


Runaway

by Silverdraeconis, violentincest



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Abuse of a Minor, Anal Sex, Blood, Drugs, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gore, Guns, Kissing, M/M, Mentions of Underage, Oral Sex, Rimming, Violence, anything bad that was hinted at in the book might happen here also, auguste dies, crude language, lots of filler, mentions of rape/non-con, regent being his typical asshole self, totally didn't keep to my plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-08-24 22:15:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16648847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverdraeconis/pseuds/Silverdraeconis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/violentincest/pseuds/violentincest
Summary: The two biggest (and baddest) gangs, Akielos and Vere, have kept an uneasy peace for 6 years, after a violent turf war. When Auguste, the Veretian head was killed among the fighting, an agreement came out of it. Akielos would run the bottom half of the city, and Vere the top half. Right when Laurent is set to take over he is forced to run for his life. He ends up in Akielos territory where he plans to infiltrate the group, and convince the leader to help them (even if that means working in his nightclub as a skimpily dressed waiter).





	1. Art by Silverbladedraco (Not an actual chapter)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to the longest fic I've ever written!  
> I didn't actually think I could do it. It's also (basically) my first foray into the Captive Prince fandom.  
> I suck at titles and almost named it "Laurent looks dope in kick-ass suits", but didn't (trying to be a bit serious about this. So, instead I just went with a Bon Jovi song title since I'm seeing him (for the 15th) time in concert next week.
> 
> Be warned, if you came here for a mostly mafia plot....you might be disappointed. I went off track sometimes, and wrote a lot of filler (some sex and fluff though!), but there is mafianess, drugs, gun fights, hot suits etc. still in here though. I promise! 
> 
> Also, I lost my beta after chapter 3 (busy with school, and I didn't want to bug them, school's more important), so after chapter 3 it's BETA'D by me, so I probably missed some stuff. Sorry.
> 
> Anyway enjoy, and please check out the awesome art but the amazing artist silverbladedraco (you can find them on tumblr under the same name)!
> 
> Enjoy (and please let me know down below if you do)!
> 
>  
> 
> My ART:
> 
> Just the picture:
> 
> https://66.media.tumblr.com/a6e0e9ed17c8d461498050db273b487c/tumblr_pictkvk4ns1vdfcv8o1_1280.jpg
> 
>  
> 
> Check out my artists awesome blog. All their art is amazing!!!!! The AO3 tag is silverbladedraco.

<http://silverbladedraco.tumblr.com/post/180214132984/captive-prince-big-bang-2018-capri-bigbang2k18>


	2. Runaway

**Huge Shootout In A Warehouse at Marlas**

 

_ Saturday, a huge shooting occurred in what was believed to be an abandoned warehouse. New evidence has revealed that it was a turf war between two Mafia Gangs, Akielos and Vere. Never heard of them? Neither have we. _

 

_ Digging deeper into this matter, our reporter Erasmus, has discovered that Artes is divided into four Mafia Gangs; Patras, Vask, Akielos, and Vere. Though Akielos and Vere have been disagreeing with each other for years, it hasn’t been a problem for us ‘normal folk’, until recently. The fire at the docks, where a boat was burnt, one man lost his life, and another injured, seems to be a fallout of their vendetta. The fight at the park where ten people were critically injured, including a child, also Akielos and Vere. Now, guns and shootings in family neighborhoods. When will these two gangs say enough is enough? And why haven’t we heard of these gangs before, especially when it seems that both sides have huge numbers of men working for them? _

 

_ What we really want to know, is why hasn’t the Government stepped in yet, when this is turning out to be such a problem? Because it’s their fault. They allow it. According to a recently discovered paper trail, the Government has been taking bribes from them for a while.  _

_ Police, Politicians, you name a section of the city, and people there have been bought off. Are these the type of people that we want running our city? Something must be done about this now, before more citizens are hurt. _

**************************************

Laurent walked into his Uncle’s office. His Uncle, on the phone, didn’t even look up at him in acknowledgement. Laurent stood there patiently, his eyes roaming the room. When he turned of age in a few months, and inherited his father’s legacy, this whole office would have to be gutted. For Laurent’s Uncle, the more extravagant, or tacky in Laurent’s opinion, the better. He was trying to see if there was anything worth salvaging when his Uncle hung up.

“Laurent. I don’t believe we have a meeting scheduled.”

“No, Uncle, we don’t. Still there is something that we need to discuss.”

His Uncle leaned back in his chair, hands folded over his stomach. He opened his mouth to respond, when the door slammed open behind Laurent, banging into the wall. Laurent let out a quiet sigh. Something else he would have to fix when redoing the office.

“Get your hand off of me you big dumb oaf!” Nicaise yelled as he half stormed, half was thrown into the room.

Nicaise’s wavy brown hair was a mess, sticking up every which way. He was in an oversized white dress shirt, his blue eyes narrowed in anger.

“I’m sorry, boss. I tried to stop him.” said his Uncle’s number one henchman, Govart.

Nicaise stomped down on Govart’s foot, and ripped his arm out of his grasp. He used that hand to point at Laurent’s Uncle. 

This wasn’t going to be good.

“You promised!”

His Uncle looked at Nicaise cooly, his facial expression not changing one bit at the unexpected intrusion.

“Promised what?”

“Promised that if I came here, lived here, made you my only customer, I’d be taken care of. ”

“And you were. I kept my promise.”

“No you didn't. You said I’d never want. I’d be set for life! But this moron,” Nicaise yelled, gesturing towards Govart.”Came into my room telling me to pack my shit, and get the fuck out.”

Laurent was pretty sure that was a word for word repeatment.

“Things change.” his Uncle said. “You’re no longer needed. You served your purpose.”

“That’s not what you were saying an hour ago when I was around your cock!”

Laurent rubbed his face. Apparently he wasn’t going to get to have his conversation with his Uncle.

Only now, did his Uncle’s face change. His lips quirked up into a barely visible smirk, before disappearing again. 

“Consider that part of your severance package. Now, as I’m sure Govart told you, you need to be gone by tomorrow morning.”

“Severance package?!” Nicaise spat out, as he took a step forward. “You’re a lying asshole, and you  _ will  _ keep your promise!”

Laurent slid his hand into his pocket as his Uncle stood up. This was about to get out of hand.

“Uncle,” Laurent started.

He ignored him, and walked around the desk.

“You will never speak to me like that again. I don’t owe you anything. You were a whore, living in grovel. You should be thanking me for what I gave you.” he cupped Nicaise’s chin, turning his face up to meet his eyes. “Now, get out you ungrateful brat, and never come back.” he said, pushing Nicaise away from him.

Nicaise’s eyes narrowed in a death glare. He sucked in a big breath, and spit. The spit landed on his Uncle’s chest.

The hand in Laurent’s pocket clenched.

His Uncle brought his hand up, and back, than slapped Nicaise hard across the face. Nicaise fell to the floor at the force. His Uncle looked at Govart.

“He’s yours now. Do whatever you wish with him.” He said picking Nicaise off the floor by his arm. “Then get rid of him where no one will ever find him.”

“You motherfu-”

Time slowed for Laurent as Nicaise was yelling, and his Uncle’s hand reared back for another hit. The next thing he knew, his hand, no longer in his pocket, was hurling a knife at his Uncle. It hit him in the shoulder, causing him to release his grip on Nicaise’s shoulder. His Uncle looked at his shoulder shocked. Before he or Govart could do anything, Laurent grabbed the pistol from the holster on his leg, turned and shot Govart in the chest. Laurent grabbed Nicaise by the arm. 

“Run.” he said throwing Nicaise towards the door.

He took off out of the door, Laurent running after him. They ran down the hall. As soon as they stepped outside Laurent knew he had to think quickly. His Uncle’s men would have heard the commotion. Once they realized he was okay, they’d be after him and Nicaise.

“Here.” Laurent said, and pulled Nicaise down the alley. “Get in.”

Nicaise eyed the dumpster.

“Are you joking? I’m not-” he yelled, as Laurent picked him up, and threw him in. He jumped in after him, and pulled the lid shut.

“This is-”

“Shhh. For once in your life be quiet!” Laurent hissed. “Do you want to be found? They find us and we’re both dead.”

Nicaise shut his mouth. They sat in the dumpster, and waited. Laurent checked his watch a while later. Enough time had passed. The men would be far away from here now, searching the city for them.

“Stay. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just wait here. I need to go grab some stuff. I’ll be right back.”

“Promise?” Nicaise whispered.

Laurent nodded, looking Nicaise in the eyes, blue meeting blue.

“Promise.” he said.

Laurent slowly opened the lid and peered out. The coast was clear. He climbed out, and re-closed the lid. He looked around. There. A fire exit on the next building. He climbed the ladder and took off. 

Laurent didn’t return until night. He opened the dumpster, and Nicaise stood up, an old rotten drumstick in his hand as a weapon. He eyes widened in relief, and he dropped the drumstick.

“I didn’t think you were coming back, asshole!”

“What did I tell you about being quiet!” he hissed, lifting Nicaise out of the dumpster.

Laurent had a red hat on his head, his blonde hair tucked under it. He was in a pair of ratty jeans, and an old worn out t-shirt. His hands were covered in fingerless gloves. He threw a Goodwill bag at Nicaise.

“Change into these. Do it quickly.”

Nicaise changed behind the dumpster. When he came back out, he was also in jeans, and an old t-shirt. Laurent shoved Nicaise’s old shirt into the bag, and tossed it into the dumpster.

“The best way would be to go back the way I came.” he said pointing to the fire escape. “But you wouldn’t be able to jump between the buildings. We need the darkness. That’s why I needed to wait until night.” he said, grabbing Nicaise’s hand.

They walked to the end of the alley, and Laurent peeked around the corner. “Walk normally. Don’t talk, and don’t look suspicious.”

Once they were a few blocks away, Nicaise finally asked, “Where are we going?”

“We will see when we get there.”

“What does that mean?”

“Didn’t I say no talking?”

Nicaise humphed, but went silent.

They arrived at their destination, and Laurent held open the bus station door for Nicaise. “We can’t stay in Belloy.” he walked over to the bus station destination board, looking at all of the information.

“There.” Nicaise said pointing.

Laurent followed Nicaise’s finger with his eyes. “Ios? That’s Akielos territory.”

Nicaise nodded. “They wouldn’t expect us to go there. Especially not you, not after….” he trailed off.

Laurent sighed and then nodded. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. And it’s not that expensive to get there. I took out all the money I could, but what we have is what we have. We can only use cash from now on.”

Nicaise nodded, and then grabbed two of Laurent’s fingers, squeezing them.

“Thank you.” he said quietly.

He knew it was his fault that Laurent was in this situation.

“Of course, kid.” Laurent said breaking the tension. He wouldn’t have changed anything he had done. He walked over to the window and bought their tickets.

No one wanted to sit next to them on the bus. Even though they had changed their clothes, they still smelt like dumpster. Which was fine with Laurent. The less people that paid attention to them, the better. 

The ride wasn’t long, but Nicaise fell asleep quickly. Laurent woke him up when they arrived at the bus station. They climbed off of the bus, Nicaise still rubbing his eyes. The area around the bus stop seemed busy, a lot of people out and about. Laurent grabbed Nicaise’s hand. 

“Don’t get separated.” 

They walked and walked, Laurent trying to keep his head down as much as possible, but still take in what he could of the city. He knew they were finally in the area he wanted, when he saw women in high heeled boots, and short skirts leaning against the walls. He pulled Nicaise down the next street, and they ended up in front of a dilapidated hotel. The windows had bars on them, and the paint was peeling from the walls. The vacancy sign flickering on and off. 

Nicaise looked up at the hotel name.

“Big Dick’s. Laurent you can’t be serious!”

“As probably one of the only places in our budget, yes I’m serious.” 

Laurent opened the door and walked in. The lobby was dark. It seemed like they had to replace half of their lights. There was a lamp on the desk, where a guy was reading a magazine, an open beer next to it.

“How much for a room with two beds?” 

The man turned the page, not even looking up. “Don’t got those. You can have one bed, and a pull out couch.”

Laurent paused. “Okay. How much per night for one of those?”

“37.”

“Make it an even 40, for no name and no I.D. as long as we stay here.”

“How long you staying?” The man said looking up, thinking about how much extra money he could pocket.

“Indefinitely.”

The man looked Laurent over, and then Nicaise. He got up from his desk, grabbed a key, and slammed it down in front of Laurent, hand still on it. 

“You only pay me.”

Laurent nodded. The man released the key, and Laurent picked it up. 

“Enjoy your stay.”

Laurent wrinkled his nose. “We’ll try.”

They went up to the third floor to room 301. He turned on the light looking around. The wallpaper was made up of yellow and green stripes. Some of it was missing in a few areas, showing the white plaster underneath. The carpet was a yellowish green, light enough to not hide any of the stains on it. A pair of cheap red curtains was hanging from a rod over the window. The bed was a small twin sized. The sheets white, also with a few questionable stains on them. The couch was resting just below the window. It was a yellow and green paisley pattern, with a few patches sewn into it over the ripped areas.

“Well….at least there’s a T.V.” Nicaise said walking in. He looked at the bed and then the couch. “I don’t know which is worse.”

“You’re smaller. You take the couch.” Laurent said reluctantly, and went over to sit on the edge of the bed. “None of the stores will be open now. I’ll go out in the morning, and get us some toothbrushes, and other necessities.” He turned on the TV. “Let’s try and get some sleep.” 

***********************************

The next morning found them out and about. They left the section they were staying in, and went to the more populated area near the bus stop. There were many shops, and restaurants nearby. They went into a McDonalds for a couple of breakfast sandwiches.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat fast food.” Nicaise said, shoveling the hash brown in his mouth. He was obviously enjoying it.

“Yes. And now I remember why.” Laurent replied, picking pieces of the English muffin off and eating it. 

“It’s not that bad. I used to eat it all the time.”

“Covered in grease, made with fake meat, and full of carbs. Yet it’s not that bad.” he said sarcastically. 

Nicaise shrugged, and when he finished, reached over to eat the rest of Laurent’s too. Laurent let him.

After they were finished eating they found a small used clothing store nearby. They popped in, and picked up a few outfits for the each of them, then went into a regular store for the rest of their items. When they were ready to head back, they walked through the more ritzy side of the entertainment district. Laurent paused in front of a night club. The steps leading up to the club were marble. The middle of the steps were covered in a red carpet. The doors,imbedded in a black brick column were glass. During the day time you couldn’t see the inside, as all the lights were off. The rest of the building was white, with gold Greek images popping out of them. In red, with a black outline, the word  _ Surrender _ was placed above the doors. Behind the letters was more glass, which looked like it either lit up at night, or became a waterfall.

“What?” Nicaise said, turning around to look at Laurent, when he noticed he had stopped.

Laurent peered up at the sign. “I’m not sure. The name sounds familiar to me though.”

Nicaise shrugged. “I don’t know why. You’ve never been here before.”

“I know but….” Laurent trailed off, still thinking.

“Come on. I want to change out of these clothes. We slept in them, and they still smell like trash.”

Laurent wrinkled his nose. “You’re right. I’m surprised even McDonalds served us.”

It was later, when Nicaise was in the shower that Laurent remembered. He knocked on the bathroom door, before opening it, and poked his head in.

“Nicaise. I’m going out for a bit, and taking the key. Don’t answer the door for anyone.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

Laurent sighed, and started to close the door.

“Make sure to bring back some lunch!”

He rolled his eyes. He forgot how much kids ate. 

When he came back, shopping bags in hand, they hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the day. Nicaise watching TV, and Laurent reading a book he picked up at the drugstore. It wasn’t really an interesting book, and not one he would have picked under usual circumstances, but it was something to do. Around ten that night, Laurent picked up the bags from when he went out earlier and went into the bathroom to take a shower. 

Nicaise glanced at him quickly when he walked out of the bathroom, then did a double take. “Where are you going dressed like a whore?”

Laurent glared at him. “Thanks Nicaise.”

“Well….” he said waving his hand up and down in the air, eyebrow quirked. “You look like one.”

And he did, but that was the point. Laurent’s hair was out of its usual braid, hanging loose, a little past his shoulder blades. He had on a gold short sleeve top that showed off his collar bone. This was tucked into a short black skirt that had a dangly gold chain belt wrapped around it, hanging down in the back and in the front. To cover himself up a bit, Laurent had on a black jacket, laced in the back. The jacket came down to the end of his thighs. You could see a bit of his legs peeking out from below the jacket, until it got to his black thigh high boots.

“I’m going to a club. This is how people dress right?” Laurent said peering down at himself.

“Usually women yeah.”

“I remembered why that club name sounded so familiar. It belongs to Damianos. I’ve heard he prefers women, and he likes blondes. I’ve been told I can pass as feminine.” 

Nicaise looked him over again, and nodded. “You clean up okay. But what? You’re just going to waltz in there and…..spread your legs?”

Laurent scoffed. “No. I’m going to get a job, his attention, and his trust.”

“When he sees you he’s only going to be thinking of one thing.”

“Well he’s going to be sadly mistaken.”

Nicaise laughed, than paused. “Are you going to be able to be in the same room as him?”

“I don’t have a choice do I? I can’t see any other way out of this predicament.” 

“Well, if you’re really going to go through with it, your eyeliner is terrible. A three year old could do a better job. Go wash your face, and bring me the pencil.”

Forty-five minutes later Laurent found himself lined up outside of  _ Surrender _ . He was right. The glass above the logo was a running waterfall, the lights behind it rainbow to bring attention to the club. There were two big bouncers at the door. One of them walked down the line and gestured for Laurent, a few women, and a couple of other guys to go inside. 

Laurent paused when he walked through the doors to get used to the noise. There was a bar against the back of the far left wall. There were a couple of round standing tables placed throughout the entrance area, and near the bar. In the middle of the club was a lit up pool. People weren’t in bathing suits, but that wasn’t stopping some of them from jumping in. Behind the pool was a dance area, and against the far back wall was a DJ booth. The DJ was standing there, headphones on. Behind him on the wall was a giant gold 3D lion. To either side of the DJ were dancing girls in bathing suits. Along the back side walls were spiral staircases that led up to what looked like the VIP area. Laurent could see bigger tables, and some lounge chairs and couches. That’s where he needed to go. 

He held his head high, walking up the stairs confidently, like he belonged there. He eyed the patrons sitting at the tables. They were all talking with one another or making out, none paying attention to their surroundings. Laurent also noticed the guard, standing against the wall. Perfect. 

He began to walk around. One table had a ring on it. Into his pocket it went. Another had a couple of bills. Into his pocket. A cell phone. A wallet. How many of these items was he going to have to obviously snatch before-

A hand grabbed his arm. Finally.

“Excuse me sir. You’re going to have to come with me.”

Laurent looked up at the man.  “What for?” He asked, batting his eyelashes.

The man rolled his eyes. “Just come with me.”

Laurent followed him back down the stairs. There was a door behind one of the spiral staircases. The guard knocked on the door before entering. The office, if it could be called that, was a decent size. There was a desk off in the right hand corner with a few papers scattered across the top. Against the left wall was a red couch. In front of the couch was a table. In the middle of the floor was a small stage with a stripper pole on it, and a smaller DJ booth. On the couch were two women, and in the middle of them, a man he assumed was Damianos. On his lap, was a third woman. His hand was wrapped around her waist, and he was leaning close talking to her. The guard cleared his throat. The man looked up.

“Nik! What are you doing in here?” he asked, pausing to rake his eyes over Laurent. “And who is this that you got with you?”

Nik pushed Laurent forward. “Empty your pockets onto the table.”

Laurent walked over and placed the ring, the money, the phone, and the wallet down.

The man looked at the items. “What am I looking at?” 

“Those aren’t his.”

He tapped the woman on the leg, and she got up going to sit on the end of the couch. He leaned back, one arm thrown over the back of the couch. He was wearing a pair of tight black jeans, and a maroon shirt that was open a couple buttons too many. Laurent tried not to roll his eyes.

“So, you’re stealing in my club?” He asked looking at Laurent.

Laurent shugged. “Needed the cash, and your clientele certainly aren’t going to miss it.”

He stared at him. “What’s your name blue eyes?”

“What’s yours?”

“Damianos. My friend’s call me Damen.”

“I’m not your friend.” he said pausing, and then “Charls.”

His eyes roamed over Laurent again. “Come here, Charls.”

Laurent walked over to the couch, swaying his hips a bit, coming to stand in between his legs. “Yes?”

“You got beautiful eyes sweetheart.” Damianos said, grabbing Laurent’s wrist, trying to pull him down on his lap.

Laurent swayed, but managed to stand his ground. He put his hand on top of Damianos’ on his wrist. “Touch me or call me sweetheart again, and I’ll castrate you.”

Damianos laughed, and let go of his wrist. “You have attitude I’ll give you that. It intrigues me. How would you like a job?”

Laurent looked down at him. “Doing what? I don’t dance, and I’m not a whore,” he said glancing at the women to either side of him.

“Wha-” Nik started, but stopped when Damianos held his palm up. 

“Server to start.”

“The tips are good?”

“Fantastic, if you play your cards right.”

“When can I start?”

“Tomorrow. As long as you promise no more stealing.”

“As long as the tips are good, I promise. If they aren’t….”

Damianos laughed again. “Nik escort Laurent out and return these items before they’re missing. I’m sure you saw who they belonged to?”

“Yes.” Nik said, pursing his lips in a scowl.

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow, Charls.”

Damianos watched as Laurent walked out, eyes glued to his legs. After Laurent left, Damianos leaned over to pick up his wine glass. It was when he was reaching for it that he realized the gold band bracelet he wore on his wrist was gone. Letting out another laugh, he grabbed the drink, and finished it off.


	3. Laurent's Bad At Flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter for ya! More Damen and Laurent interaction. Hope you like it!

“You sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?” Laurent said, coming out of the bathroom.

“I was here yesterday, alone,” Nicaise snapped.

“Yes, but you’ll be here all night.”

“I can handle myself.”

“If you need me, come to the club.”

“Oh, fuck off already! You’re not my mother, Laurent. I won’t leave the hotel room. I have TV and dinner. I’m good.”

“Fine. Go die then for all I care.” 

Laurent finished tying off his braid. He was wearing normal jeans and a tee, Nik having said he’d get his uniform tonight.

Nicaise stood up, and grabbed Laurent’s wrist.

“Where’d you get this?” he asked, tapping the gold bracelet.

“Damianos.”

Nicaise whistled. “You work fast.”

“No.” Laurent scoffed. “I stole it.”

“Can I have it?”

“Maybe after I rub his face in it.”

Nicaise took that as a no. “See if you can get me something else. The sparklier the better.”

Laurent rolled his eyes. “See you kid.”

“Stop fuc-”

He closed the door before Nicaise could finish. 

Lauren knocked on the back door to Surrender. The big guard from the night before answered.

“Employees only.” 

“I was hired last night.”

“Didn’t know we were hiring.”

Laurent shrugged. “Not my problem they don’t tell you anything.”

The man looked him over. “You do look like the bosses type.”

“Sadly.”

Laurent glanced over at the third voice.

“Nik.”

“Charls. Nice bracelet you have on there. Where’d you get it?”

“Oh?” Laurent looked down at it, and held his arm up. “This old thing? It’s a blur.” he said waving his hand near the side of his face. “Beautiful though isn’t it?”

Nik started at him. “Let’s get your uniform.”

“Wait.” The guard said, and offered his hand. “I’m Pallas. Welcome to the crew.”

“I don’t remember asking,” he responded without shaking Pallas’ hand, and followed Nik. “but I’m Charls.”

“I don’t like you.” Nik said.

“Feeling’s mutual.”

“If you managed to steal Damen’s bracelet, you’re not a bad thief. Meaning you got caught on purpose. I’m going to be watching you like a hawk. Damen might think with his cock, but I don’t. One wrong move. One word out of your mouth that I don’t like, and you’re gone.”

“I’m shaking.” Laurent deadpanned.

“Oh Nik. Don’t be rude to our new employee.” Damen said, leaning against the door that opened into the club. “I happen to think the bracelet looks beautiful on....” He paused, and looked at Laurent. “ him? It suits you.”

“Him.” Laurent said with a smirk. He found it funny Damen hadn’t figured it out last night. “Was thinking of pawning it.”

Damen nodded. “You’d get a good penny for it. How are you tonight?”

“Would be better if I wasn't’ standing around here wasting time. I thought this was a place of employment?”

“Don’t talk to your boss like that. Or the customers.” Nik said.

Damen stepped away from the door, and opened it. “Come on. I’ll show you around.” 

Laurent paused to smirk at Nik before walking through the door. 

The club looked rather lackluster during the off hours. Damen walked him around the pook, and over to the bar. “You’ll work over here. We don’t want anyone to be without a drink, ever. You see someone without one, you ask what they want next. Make sure to pick the empty glasses off of the tables, and ask the people standing around them what you can get them. Remember to make eye contact with each customer. There can be a lot of orders at once. Doing that helps you remember who ordered what, and who to give what drink to.”

“I’m working….down here?” Laurent said, wrinkling his nose.

Damen paused. “Well what else did you want to do?”

“I want to be up there.” Laurent pointed to the VIP section.

“If Nik says you’re ready, then you can move up there. So make sure to play nice.”

“I always do.”

“Somehow I have a hard time believing that. Let’s get you a uniform.”

Damen led him to a small locker room. Inside a woman with short dark brown hair was going through a sports bag.

“Talik!” Damen said.

Talik turned around. She was of average height, well endowed, and built. She was muscular, and looked like she worked out, but not overly muscular that it would be unattractive to customers. She still looked womanly, and it made her more enticing. 

“This is Charls. He’s going to be a new waiter starting from tonight. I want you to show him the ropes down at the bar for the next week.”

Talik looked Laurent over sizing him up. “Sure thing boss.”

“Taliks’ one of our best. She regularly works the VIP area, so if you really want to get up there make sure you listen to her.”

Damen pointed to a locker. “This one will be yours. You can take your uniform home with you to clean. You can keep all your other stuff in here.” 

Damen walked over to another locker, opening it up to reveal uniforms. He turned around to look Laurent over. “You’re definitely not a shirtless guy. We should play on your feminine looks.”

He tossed something at Laurent. He held them up. “Are these even shorts?” Laurent asked skeptically looking at the black pair of hot pants.

“They’re better than the gold bathing shorts the topless guys wear.”

Laurent eyed them again, nose wrinkling.

Damen looked him over. “Usually it’s worn with a white shirt since they glow in the dark, but white will wash you out.” He tossed him a light blue shirt. “That’ll bring out your eyes.”

“I’ll take the white.”

“That’s not how this works.” Damen said chuckling. “And take out your braid. Let your hair down.”

“I didn’t do it just to undo it. You take it out.”

Damen smirked. “Come here. I’ve been wanting to see if it’s as soft as it looks.”

Laurent considered telling him to go to hell, but the whole point of working here was to get closer to Damen. He walked over, and turned his back towards him. “Well, go ahead. I don’t have all night. And don’t pull my hair with your big, oaf hands.”

“Don’t worry, they know what they’re doing.” he said as he untied Laurent’s hair. He stepped closer, his chest almost touching Laurent’s back, and began to carefully unbraid it, before running his fingers through the hair to untangle it, and give it some volume. “There you go.” 

Laurent turned around, and opened his palm for the hair tie. 

Damen shook his head. ‘Think I’ll keep it. After all, you have something of mine.” he said, sliding the hair tie onto his wrist.

“ I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, get out. I need to change.”

“Sure thing.” Damen said, heading to the door. “See you out there, sweetheart.” 

 

Laurent could be nice, when he was made too. He wouldn’t say he was as good at flirting as Talik, but he thought he was doing a damn good job. Then some asshole had to go and slap his ass as he was walking away.

Laurent turned around eyes narrowed, the small space of skin wrinkling between his furrowed brow, and slammed the tray down on the table. Glaring, he leaned forward, loose tendrils of hair from his braid falling into his face, and cupped his crotch squeezing hard. 

“Is that what you wanted, you sick fuck? Me to grab your tiny dick?” He gave another hard squeeze, lip curling. “The worker won’t fight back right? But let me tell you something, sir. It wouldn’t be me bent over that table. My dick would be so far up your ass, you’d be screaming like the little pussy you are.” Laurent spat, then pulled away. 

He straightened up his shirt, and grabbed the tray off the table. He turned around, and was about to walk away, when the guy called to him,

“Wait.”

Laurent turned around expecting the guy to fight, or to demand he call the manager, but the guy slapped a twenty down on the table. “Keep bringing me drinks, and calling me names for the rest of the night, there’ll be more where that came from.”

Laurent snatched the money off the table, and shoved it into the little pouch around his waist. “Put your money where your mouth is, cockslut.” This would be the easiest money all night. 

Turned out, it caught on. He had some friends who wanted in. People walking by heard, along with people at a couple other tables. Laurent didn’t realize how many masochists were in Akielos, but if he could make money off of belittling people, he certainly would. 

He was walking out of the locker room, plastic bag with his uniform in hand, when he was stopped by Damen.

“How was your first night?”

“It was fine.”

“No problems?”

“Nope. Talik’s a good trainer.”

“Really?” Damen said, quirking an eyebrow. “Because I heard you had quite a productive night? Heard some customers talking about the “sadist”. The sadists description sounded a lot like you.” 

Laurent shrugged. “Some people need to be put in their place. If it lines my pockets, I’ll do it.”

“Somehow,I don’t think you minded.” He smirked, and leaned against the wall, arms crossed across his chest. “You going to speak to me with that mouth?”

Laurent dipped his eyes from Damen’s face, down his chest, to his feet then back up. “Somehow, I don’t think calling you a cockslut if going to work. You don’t seem like a catcher.”

“You never know unless you ask.”

Laurent’s eyes widened in surprise, and for once he was speechless.

“Finally, a reaction.”

Laurent narrowed his eyes. “Fuck off.” he said, and turned around, stalking towards the door.

“See you tomorrow, sweetheart! And just to let you know, I’d definitely let you fuck me if you spoke to me like that in the bedroom!”

Laurent gave him the middle finger. 

**********************

The rest of Laurent’s week went about the same way. Apparently, he had started to earn a reputation after that night, and people began to request The Sadist serve them. Laurent didn’t think he would ever get tired of insulting, and belittling people, but believe it or not he was starting to.

He walked into the hotel room, and threw the bag with his uniform in it in the corner. Usually, when he got home, Nicaise was already sleeping, but this time he was up with the TV on.

“What’s wrong?” Laurent asked.

Nicaise shrugged. “Wasn’t tired.”

“Bad dream?”

“No...I’m just….bored. You’ve been getting to go out every night and work. Talk to people, walk around. Get a change of scenery. I’ve been cooped up in here. I’m starting to go fucking crazy. I started talking to my pillow earlier as I was fluffling it up.”

Laurent tried not to laugh. He was so focused on getting into Damen’s graces, that he hadn’t even really been thinking about Nicaise. 

“It looks like we’re going to be here for a while more, at least. We need to get you enrolled into a school.”

“A school?! Like with actual people? My age?”

Laurent nodded. Nicaise had been learning by himself back in Vere, and Laurent had been tutoring him sometimes, but he couldn’t keep doing that anymore. They didn’t have any resources, and Laurent didn’t really have the time. 

“Would that be alright?”

Nicaise nodded. “Yeah! I’ve always wanted to experience a normal school life.”

Nicaise had come straight from a whorehouse to his Uncle. His mother had been a druggie, and sold him to the house for drug money. He had never had a regular childhood, and Laurent would try to give him one the best that he could.

“You’re going to have to learn to act like someone your age. If you start running your mouth like you always do you’ll get kicked out.”

“Yeah, yeah.” NIcaise said, waving him off. “So when can I start?”

“I have the day off tomorrow. Let’s go check out the nearby public school, and see what it’s like. Then we can go shopping. I’ve been getting a lot of tips this week, and I really need to get some new clothes.” Laurent said, looking down at the ratty jeans, and long sleeve shirt he had on. He really missed his expensive, tailor made suits. One day, he would have them back. 

“How’s that going for you anyway? Getting close to Damianos yet?”

Laurent paused. “We...talk. Well, he flirts, and I….”

“Degrade him?”

“Not all the time.”

“Laurent. If you want to get close to him, and fast, the best way to do that is through seduction.”

“I know, but-”

“No buts. I know you hate him, and would rather kill him for what he did to Auguste, but I also really want to get out of this reeking shit hole.” 

“I’ll think about it.”

“Do you need some tips?”

“No! I do not need seduction tips from a child. I can do just fine!” Laurent snapped, grabbing his sleeping clothes off of the bed, storming into the bathroom.

“If you say so.” Nicaise mumbled. 

 

***********************************

The next day, they went shopping first. Laurent decided that he wasn’t showing up at a school, public or not, in jeans. He needed a suit. Once they left the entertainment district, finding a mall was easy. Laurent let Nicaise pick out his own clothes, even letting the other stop in an accessory store, and grab some jewelry. Besides the earrings he was wearing when he left, all the rest was left in Vere. Laurent didn’t understand Nicaise’s need for shiny things, but he could go along with it for now.

NIcaise was lounging on a small sofa, feet up, legs bent over the arm, licking an ice cream cone, when Laurent walked out of the dressing room. The salesman had tried to tell Nicaise he couldn’t come in with that, but some choice words out of the boy’s mouth had the man running. He hadn’t known how to react to that. Laurent played with the suit standing in front of the mirror.

“It looks fine. Can we go now? I’m tired.”

Laurent sighed wistfully, running his hand down his side. It wasn’t as nice as the suits he had in Vere, but it would have to do for now. “Yeah. Let me pay for this first.”

He changed back into his street clothes, and paid for the suit. “Ready to check out the local school?”

“Fuck yeah!”

They went straight to the office, and the principal was happy to give them a tour of the school. The school was….nice. Not nice enough to meet Laurent’s standards. Laurent would love to send Nicaise to a private school, but Nicaise seemed excited. He kept trying to peer through the window of every classroom, and was amazed at the smallest things. From the posters on the wall, to the decorations on kids lockers. It was nice to see him finally acting his age. 

“In a few weeks, I get to start school!” Nicaise said excitedly, as they left the building.

“Well, not yet. First, you need to test into a grade.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nicaise said, waving his hand. He paused, getting quiet. “Do you think they’ll like me?” he said quietly, barely audible.

“The other kids?”

Nicaise nodded. “I don’t really know how to act around others my age. What will we talk about?”

“You’ll figure it out. How could they not love you?” Laurent said, ruffling his hair.

Nicaise growled and batted his hand away. “Don’t be annoying.”

 

****************************************

The next week, when Laurent went to work he was on his own. Talik said that he was doing well, and learned quickly enough. If Laurent needed help, Talik would come and help him. So far so good, at least for work. Laurent wanted to take Nicaises’ advice, and try and flirt back with Damen, but Damen had disappeared into his back office, and he hadn’t seen him since. He saw a few men disappear with him at the beginning of the night, probably a few of his gang members. Laurent had figured they had meetings here, but he wasn’t sure until now. There would be no way to get back there unless he had Damen’s trust, or interest.

Laurent swung his new sports bag around his shoulder, and walked to the back entrance of the club. 

“Fuck.” he muttered, when he opened the door to a torrential downpour. 

“Something wrong?”

Laurent turned his hand glancing at Damen. “You have eyes.” he said, gesturing out the door.

Damen chuckled. “A bit of rain never hurt anyone.”

“If this is what you consider a bit, I would hate to see what you consider a lot.”

“You don’t have an umbrella?”

Laurent shook his head. “Didn’t think I’d need one.”

“Here.” Damen said stepping outside, and opening his umbrella. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“I don’t have one of those either.”

“You don’t have a car?”

“That’s what I just said isn’t it? Do you just pretend at being dumb or…..”

“I’ll drive you.”

“Really, you don’t have too.”

“I insist.”

Laurent was about to tell him no again, when Nicaise’s voice in his head stopped him. “Okay. Yeah. Sure.” Laurent said, getting under the umbrella. “Let’s go then.”

Damen walked him over to a black Benz, and opened the door for Laurent.

“Typical showy club owner car.” he sighed, getting in.

Damen closed the door for him, then walked around and got in his side. “Address?”

Laurent paused. He didn’t pay attention to the address when he first rented the room. “I’ll give directions.”

“Alright. So...how do you like working at the club so far, Sadist?”

Laurent didn’t need to look at him to know that he was smirking. “It’s fine.”

“Any problems so far?”

“Directions. I can’t give them if you keep yapping away.”

“Excuse me, Princess. Go ahead.”

Laurent directed him to the hotel, and Damen stopped the car looking around.

“I don’t see any houses or apartments…”

Laurent pointed at the hotel. “That’s me.”

Damen looked at the flickering vacancy sign. The B, G, and I on the hotel’s name were now dead. “You’re staying here?” 

“You’re astute aren’t you?”

“It’s….nice?” Damen said, the statement coming out as a question, like he wasn’t sure if he was even allowed to say that.

“It does it’s job. See you tomorrow boss.”

“Wait.”

Laurent paused fingers on the handle. 

“Did you eat dinner?”

“Before I started my shift, yeah.”

“I’m hungry. How would you feel about an early breakfast? My treat.”

“Do you not think I can afford my own food?” He unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned his upper body towards Damen, cheeks flushed in anger. “Just because I’m staying in-”

“No, no. Look…I’m just trying to be nice. Let it be a ‘getting to know the new employee’ breakfast.”

“Fine. I’ll be right back.” Laurent said, opening the car door. He got out quickly, slammed the door, and ran into the hotel. 

He went up to the room, opening the door, and flicking the lights on.

“What the hell!” Nicaise yelled, sitting up. “Some people are trying to sleep.”

“We’re going to an early breakfast.”

“Now?”

“Yes. Damianos is paying.”

Nicaise paused, thinking. “It better be a nice place, and I’m eating whatever the hell I want.”

“Of course.”

Damen looked at Laurent confused when he climbed back into the car, Nicaise getting in to the back.

“You want to take me to breakfast, you’re taking my nephew too.” Laurent told him, deciding that would be the best way to describe why he was living in a hotel with a teenage boy.

“Alright.” Damen turned around in his seat to look at Nicaise. “I’m Damen.”

“I didn’t fucking ask. And we better not be going to McDonald’s. I’ve had enough of that shit the past two weeks.”

“I second that.” Laurent chimed in. 

Damen looked at Nicaise stunned, unsure what to say. When all Nicaise did was stare back, Damen turned back to the wheel. 

“No McDonalds. Got it.”


	4. Damen Has A Nice Ass.....Penthouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we all tell I'm not taking this chapter names seriously? I was going to and name this one P.I.N.K, but then decided against it (I'm not a serious person after all). If you enjoy let me know below!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, translations for the Greek in the end note.

Damen pulled into a small parking lot that fit about five or six cars max. Nicaise looked over at the building at the end of the lot. The upper part of the building was white vinyl, and the lower half was made up of worn red bricks. Above the wooden door was a wood panel, painted in a light green. In a white script it said To Spiti Sto Horio.

“I thought I hinted at some place nice.” Nicaise said.

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. It has some of the best food around.”

“We’ll see.” He said hopping out of the car, running to avoid the rain. 

He flung open the restaurant door, and paused in the threshold. Laurent bumped into him, and then used his hands to push Nicaise inside. 

“It’s pouring out! Stop staring and get inside!”

“This looks like someone’s house.” Nicaise said, moving to let Laurent in, and then Damen, who closed the door behind him.

The walls of the restaurant were white. In the left corner of the room was a fireplace, though it wasn’t lit. There were wooden nick nacks littered across the walls. Four long wooden tables sat in the middle of the restaurant, each with six chairs around them. The wood was scratched and dinged up, giving the tables a loved look. The chairs had white chair covers over them, and in the middle of each table was a bowl of fruit. 

“That’s because it is. The owner and her husband live upstairs.”

A women came from the back. “Damen! Kalos irthate.” a heavy set woman with an equally heavy accent exclaimed, walking over to him and pinching his cheek. “Good to see you! Have you lost weight? You need to eat more. Sit sit. You and your friends.” She said gesturing to a table. “I’ll bring menus.”

Damen pulled out a chair for Laurent. Laurent glanced at the chair. He was about to go to the other side of the table, and seat himself, when he caught the glare Nicaise was giving him. He sighed and sat down. 

“Thanks.” he grumbled.

Damen smiled. “See? That wasn’t so hard was it?”

The owner came back, and placed menus on the table, along with cups of herbal tea.

“It’s raining dogs and cats is it not? I’ll give you few minutes to decide.” she said before rushing away again.

Nicaise picked up the menu. “I don’t know what any of this is.”

“Ah…” Damen said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s Greek. Her and her husband are from Greece. Different parts, but they both love food. They moved here, and decided to put their Greek recipes together.”

“Are you Greek?” Laurent asked before he could stop himself.

Damen grinned again. “Yes. Yes I am. Though I haven’t been back for sometime. I’m busy with work.”

“Well then you order.” Nicaise said throwing his menu down. “Though you better make sure it’s good.”

“Everything here is good. You don’t have any allergies, do you?”

“No. I eat,” Nicaise looked Damen up and down slowly. ‘anything.” he finished, licking his lips.

“Uhh, yes, then, I’ll order.” Damen said, unsure how to respond. He looked to Laurent. “Shall I order for you too.”

“You might as well.” he said putting the menu down, much more gracefully than Nicaise.

“Laurent likes sweet foods.” Nicaise said, as Laurent sent another glare his way.

“Agafya, we’re ready to order.”

Agafya came back over with a small notepad, and flicked it open. 

“We’ll each have the froutalia, and the xerotigana with thyme honey.”

She nodded. “Good choice.”

Nicaise picked up his fork playing with it, thumb pressing against the tongs. “So, you’re like some rich club owner?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“How’d you get into that?”

“Oh, uh, it’s part of the family business.”

“What else does your family do?”

“Nothing particularly exciting. Where are you guys from?” Damen asked trying to change the subject. 

“Here and there.” Laurent said. 

“And what brings you to Ios?”

“We needed a change of scenery. A new start.”

Damen nodded. “I can understand that. Sometimes a new start is good. Have you explored the area much yet?” 

“We just signed Nicaise up at the local public school, and went shopping at the mall. That’s about it.”

“Ah. The local school is good. That’s where my brother and I went.”

“You didn’t go to some fancy private school?” Nicaise asked.

“We did, but we got kicked out.”

“What for?”

“Fighting.”

Laurent looked at Nicaise. “I better not get any complaints about that.”

“Well if someone’s talking shit….”

“Nicaise.”

“Charls.” Nicaise said, giving him a deadpan look.

Agafya bought the plates of food out, and placed one in front of each of them, breaking their starting contest.

“Apolamvano. Enjoy.” she said.

“Efcharisto.” Damen replied, smiling at her.

Nicaise and Laurent looked down at their plates. There was a basket full of what looked like pastries, and a dish full of honey in it, with a spoon. A large round, thick omelet was on each plate, that looked bigger than either of them could finish, and a few slices of fresh orange, and grapes on the side. 

“What is this?” Nicaise asked poking the giant blob of omelet on his plate.

“Don’t touch your food with your finger.” Laurent said. “That’s disgusting.”

Nicaise rolled his eyes. “I know where my fingers have been.”

“That’s froutalia. It’s an omelet made with Greek cheese, potatoes, and smoked sausage. In the basket are Xerotigana. They’re thin fried piles of dough. They come from the Amorgos, Cyclades, and Crete region. Amorgos is where Agafya is from. They’re usually served only around Easter and Christmas, but she knows I have a soft spot for them, and usually has some made. I think she also likes to eat them anytime too. They’re sweet but not too sweet. Since Nicaise said you liked sweet things, there is thyme honey to go on top.”

“I asked what the food was. Not your whole life story.” Nicaise said, grabbing a pastry, and dipping it in the honey.

“Spoon.” Laurent chastised. 

Nicaise shoved half of the pastry in his mouth, and said “Yes mother,” just to annoy Laurent more.

Damen chuckled. “Let him be. He’s just a kid.”

“Not a kid, you buffoon.” 

Damen looked at him shocked.

“Oh, just let him be.” Laurent said, mocking Damen.

Laughing Damen grabbed a pastry, and spooned some honey on it. “Here try it. I promise you’ll love it.” He said bringing the pastry up to Laurent’s mouth.

Laurent stared at the pastry, up at Damen, then back at the pastry. He opened his mouth to tell him he was perfectly capable of feeding himself, when Nicaise kicked him. He then leaned in and took a bite. Leaning back against the chair to away from Damen’s hand, he shot Nicaise a side glare.

“Well?” Damen asked, watching Laurent chew with a quirked eyebrow.

“It’s edible.”

Damen snorted. “Good I’m glad.” He placed the rest of the uneaten pastry onto Laurent’s plate. 

They ate quietly, and when they were finished Damen went up to the counter to pay. He talked to Agafya for a moment, and she went into the back. She came out with a white paper bag and handed it to Damen. Damen smiled, and said something to her before coming back over. 

“Alright. Let me take you guys back.”

Damen opened the restaurant door, and pushed the unlock key for his car. Nicaise ran right to the car, flung the door open, and climbed in.

“Here.” Damen said opening his umbrella.

Laurent looked at it, then got under it. “Thanks.” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that?”

“I said you’re too big for both of us to fit under here.” he replied, and started walking to the car, Damen hurrying to catch up, and keep the umbrella over Laurent’s head.

He opened the door for him. After Laurent climbed in, and shut his door, Damen walked around to his side and got in himself. 

Damen turned the radio on low, and drove them back to the hotel.

“Wait.” he said, as Laurent put his hand on the handle. “For you.” Damen said handing him the white bag. “For lunch later.”

Laurent took it, and looked inside. “What are they.”

“Amorgos cheese pies. It’s made with Feta, and Kefalotyri cheese. Kefalotyri is a harder cheese than feta. There’s nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon, and a hint of mint inside too.”

“You always over explain everything?” Nicaise asked from the back seat. 

Damen smiled. “I hope you too enjoy them.”

Laurent reclosed the bag, and opened the door. “Thanks.” he mumbled, as he was getting out, the word almost being drowned out by the sound of the rain.

Damen watched the two of them until they disappeared from sight before driving off. 

“So,” Nicaise said, as they got back into the hotel room. “You are a horrible flirt.”

“It’s harder when you don’t mean it.”

“When do you ever mean to flirt?” he asked flopping back onto the bed, a hand on his stomach “So, what’s your plan then? If you keep going at this pace, I’ll be graduating from college before we get back to Vere.”

“Don’t worry. I thought of a plan, but first we need to sleep.” Laurent said letting out a yawn.

He put the bag on the desk near the lamp, before grabbing his pajamas, and heading into the bathroom. When he came out Nicaise was already asleep. 

*****************************

In the morning, Laurent and Nicaise walked to the closest cell phone store. He went in, and bought a burner phone. When they got back to the hotel, Nicaise immediately went to the cheese pies, and started digging in. Laurent grabbed some for himself, before sitting down on the bed, and dialing a number. After a few rings a gruff voice answered the phone.

“Yeah?”

“Jord. It’s Laurent.”

There was a pause, and the sound of a door closing, then. “Laurent. I thought you were dead. What the hell happened!?”

“My Uncle happened. I needed to get Nicaise and I out of there right away.”

“Where are you?”

“I….we’re in Ios.”

“Ios?! Why?”

“I have a plan. I got a job at Damianos’ night club. He’s going to get me my position back.”

“He hasn’t killed you yet?”

“He doesn’t know who I am. I need to get into his crew, and to do that he needs to trust me. He doesn’t know I know about his actual business, yet. I need your help to do that.”

“What do you need?”

“Information.”

“What kind?”

“Anything big you could give me.” 

“Alright. Let me get back to you.”

“I’ll have this number until the end of the day. I start work at nine. I need something before than.” 

Laurent hung up.

 

Jord called back around 7:00. 

“This better be something I can use.” 

“There’s going to be a P.I.N.K drop in two days, at the docks.”

“How many men are going to be there?”

“Just four. There’s never been a problem before, so your Uncle has lowered the amount of guards.”

“What time?”

“Midnight.”

“I’ll call you back after work. Answer.” he said before hanging up. 

Laurent got ready for work, and went to the club earlier than normal. He changed into his uniform then went to find Nikandros.

“Where’s Damianos?”

“In his office.”

“I need to talk to him.”

“He’s busy at the moment.”

“Too busy for information on the Vere Gang?” Laurent asked, picking out the dirt from under one of his fingernails.

Nik paused. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Nik. We both know I’m not stupid. Not sure about you yet, but I know who Damianos is, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be too happy if he missed some vital information.” 

“I knew you were bad news.” He said grabbing Laurent by the arm. “Let’s go.”

“I wouldn’t touch me if I were you. Laurent ripped his arm out of Nik’s grasp. “I can walk just fine on my own thank you.” he said walking through the club to Damen’s office. He didn’t even bother to knock, but walked into the office like he owned the place.

Damen looked up at the sound of the door opening. The woman in front of his desk, also turning to look at him.

She had her long blonde hair piled into a bun on the top of her head. Her eyes were blue, but a lighter shade than Laurent’s. They had the same skin tone, and if Laurent’s hair was styled that way, he doubted you’d be able to tell them apart if it wasn’t for her breasts. She was wearing a white pant suit. The jacket buttoned, with no shirt underneath, her cleavage showing, but tastefully so. On her feet she had a pair of gold stilettos a couple of shades darker than her hair. 

“Who is she?”

“Charls I’m busy right now.”

Nik bumbled in behind Damen. “I’m sorry boss. He doesn’t listen to anything anyone says.”

“I asked who she was.”

Damen sighed. He was slowly getting to know Laurent over these past two weeks, and knew that unless he carried Laurent out by force, he wouldn’t leave until he got what I wanted.

“This is my brother’s girlfriend, Jokaste.”

“Oh good. The gang’s all here then.” Laurent walked over to the bar in the corner of the room. He grabbed a glass, and flipped it over, lip up. “I wanted to talk to you about the Vere Gang.” He placed some ice in the glass, the room silent around him, as he poured in some water. “They have a P.I.N.K drop in two days.”

Damen watched him. “Jokaste leave us.” He said, glancing at her quickly.

“Shouldn’t I listen? I can report it back to Kastor.”

“I’ll talk to him myself later.”

Jokaste hmphed, and walked towards the door. As she came near Laurent she slowed down, looking him up and down. Her right lip quirked up in a smirk, before she left, closing the door behind her.

“Sit down.” Damen said.

“I prefer standing.”

“Fine.” Damen stood up too. “Why would I be interested in the Vere Gang?”

“Because you’re Damianos Akielos.”

“And how do you know about me, and them?”

“Would you like a drink?”

“Enough of your games Charls. Answer my questions, or we’re going to have a problem.”

Laurent sighed. “Touchy. There’s no fun when there isn’t a game, but fine. I used to be in the Vere gang.” 

“And why would you come here? To me?”

“My boyfriend. He’s a member of Vere. That’s how I joined. He was a mean guy. Abusive. I can handle myself, but when he started to abuse Nicaise, I ran. I want to get back at him. Hurt him anyway I can. And you, you’re the perfect solution for that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew who I was sooner.”

“I needed to know I could trust you.”

“You trust me?” Damen asked, eyes practically lighting up.

“Enough. I trust you enough. I got some time sensitive information, so that’s going to have to work.” 

“Tell me.”

Laurent relayed all of the information that Jord had given him over the phone.

“How sure are you that this is reliable information?”

“100%. Someone else on the inside, who wants to bring Vere down, gave me the information.”

Damen nodded, and stayed quiet for a moment thinking. “Nikandros and I will discuss this, and come up with a plan. But Laurent, let it be known that if this is a trap, or false information, I don’t care how beautiful you are, your head will be sitting on the corner of my desk.”

Laurent took the time to finish his glass of water, before putting the cup back on the table. He walked to the door, and turned his head back to look at Damen. “Oh Damen. I wouldn’t make threats you can’t keep.” 

On the way home from work Laurent called Jord again.

“Jord. We’re in. This is what I’m going to need….” Laurent said, listing off a bunch of demands.

When he terminated the call he threw the phone into a trash can on the side of the road. 

************************************

The next morning when Laurent, and Nicaise went out to get food, a black car was waiting for them.

“Get in.” Damen said, rolling down the window.

Nicaise looked at him. “What are you a stalker now? Sitting outside people’s hotels like a perv?”

“They wouldn’t give me your room number.”

Laurent smiled and looked down at Nicaise. “And that’s why you always pay more. Life lesson.” 

“I’m exhausted.” said Damen. “Just get in. 

“And where would we be going exactly?”

“My penthouse.”

“Why would we want to go there?”

“Because he’s a perv like I just said. Do you need me to stab him?”

“ I don’t trust you, and you’ll be kept under watch until after everything goes down tonight.”

“Ah, so we’re playing jailer and warden now?”

“Charls.” Damen said rubbing his face in exhaustion. He tried never to lose his patience and snap at people, but right now Laurent was bringing him very close to that edge. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Get in the damn car.”

“I don’t think he knows what asking means. That didn’t sound like a question.” 

Laurent shrugged. “What can you expect from uncouth barbarians?” he said climbing into the car. “Come on Nicaise.”

Nicaise got in, and slammed the door. “You better be getting us food.”

Damen sighed, and swung them by a bakery on the way home. “Go inside and get whatever you want.” he said, holding his wallet out for Laurent.

“I don’t need a keeper. I have money.” he said, hand already on the door handle.

“I don’t.” Nicaise said taking the wallet. He opened it peeking inside. “Suddenly, I’m more ravinous than before!”

He got out of the car, and Laurent followed him inside. They came back out, NIcaise carrying a big bag. He walked to Damen’s window.

“I got you some food too.” Nicaise opened the wallet, pulled out the rest of the cash, and shoved it into his pocket. “My tip.”

Damen took the wallet back without a word. Laurent stayed quiet the entire ride, staring out the car window. Damen pulled into a large parking lot. The building, in Laurent’s opinion was nothing special. It was a tall black skinny rectangle, that shot above many of the other buildings surrounding it. Attached to the side of the rectangular tower from the front left side, to the front right side, were glass squares. There were ten glass squares, each section six floors. It was an eyesore, and Laurent couldn’t believe that Damen would chose to live here.

Damen led them into the building, and scanned his card at the elevator. The doors opened, and when they got inside, he pressed the button for the top floor. 

Laurent looked around the lobby taking everything in, before stepping into the elevator. He looked at the button that was lit up. “Of course you live on the top floor.”

“Wouldn't you?” Damen asked smirking, know full well Laurent would. 

Damen unlocked the door to his penthouse, and held it open for them. “After you.”

Laurent was surprised. He was expecting the inside to be very over the top, and not aesthetically pleasing, due to what the outside of the building looked like. He had to admit this was homey. Nothing over the top like Laurent’s Uncle would like, and still a bit tame compared to Laurent’s style, but knowing Damen’s personality, it fit. 

The floor was a dark wood, that continued along the bottom trim of the walls. The walls were all white, and so was the ceiling. The same colored wood from the floor continued on the ceiling giving it a cross stitched look, and in the middle of the cross stitch, was a giant window letting light in. The beams, holding up the ceiling from the floor, were also made from the same wood. They main beam, split into three parts, giving each one a trident appearance. 

The light from the window in the ceiling was shining down on to a rectangular, wooden dining room table with black legs, and six black chairs seated around it. The kitchen itself, was under the awning of the loft. All of the appliances up to date, meaning either this suite was brand new, or Damen loved to cook, and had upgraded everything. Separated by a wall, was the living room. There were two black, cloth sofas, one a two seater, and one fitting up to three or four people. A black cloth armchair, seated around a light wooden rectangular table was also in the living room. A big screened television hung from the wall. Two small glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling, one above the living room, and one above the dining room table. There was an opening leading to the far back of the suite, but Laurent couldn’t see what was back there. From the glass doors, he could see a balcony, with some furniture on it to sit on. 

Finally, a set of wooden stairs led up into the loft area where Laurent assumed Damen’s bedroom was. 

“Wow.” Nicaise said, at the same time Laurent said. “Not bad.” 

“Please sit down in the dining room, and eat. Do you need me to put on a pot of coffee?”

“Yes.” Nicaise said, already dumping the contents of the bag on the table, pastries and bread spilling out everywhere.

“I’d prefer tea.” Laurent said sitting down and grabbing a pastry. “And plates.”

Damen nodded, and put two plates down on the table for them, along with butter, jam, honey, and knives.

Laurent’s tea was done first, and he placed that down on the table with sugar, and milk. Just as Nicaise’s pot of coffee was finishing up there was a knock on Damen’s door. Damen answered, and Laurent recognized Pallas as he walked in.

“Ah, so you’re going to be our guard dog?”

Pallas smiled. “Good morning to you to Charls.” He looked at Nicaise. “And you must be Nicaise. It’s nice to meet you.” he said offering Nicaise his hand.

Nicaise took it as Pallas reached for one of his rolls with his other, and held out his knife. “I don’t think so.”

Pallas pulled his hand back.

“Nik will be over later. For now, I’m going to grab a couple of hours of sleep. Don’t break anything please, and Pallas good luck.” Damen said before heading up the stairs to his bedroom. 

“Do you want a pastry?” Laurent asked, picking at his, ignoring Nicaise’s glare.

Pallas looked at them spread out on the table. “Yeah sure. Thanks.” he said sitting down. He slowly moved his hand towards a pastry. When Nicaise didn’t brandish his knife again, he grabbed one, and pulled it towards his chest quickly.

They ate quietly, Laurent sipping at his tea.

“Do you know what time they’re heading over to the docks? Laurent finally asked.

Pallas shrugged. “I know Nik, and a few men are coming over at eight to finalize the plan. Maybe around nine or so. Why?”

“Just curious.” Laurent shrugged innocently.

He finished his cup of tea and brought it to the sink. He was about to put it down, then changed his mind and washed it. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. Nicaise behave.”

“When don’t I?”

Laurent walked over to the hall, figuring that’s where the bathroom was. He opened a door into a smaller guest bedroom. That would work too. Quietly he closed the door behind him, and pulled out his new burner phone.

“Jord. I need you to pick me up tonight, around 9:30.” he said, figuring half an hour after Damen left was enough time. He gave Jord the street name he noticed earlier when they were driving, and described the outside of the building. “I also need you to get inside the building, and open the window to the stairwell, right below the top suite. Then go back outside, and wait in the car. I’ll be there.”

Laurent came out of the bedroom a few minutes later. “So, what are we supposed to do all day then? He said, cleaning up the leftover pastries on the table. 

Pallas shrugged. “You can watch TV, or read a book?”

“Unless Damen reads, which I doubt, I didn’t have time to grab a book. Do you have cards?”

“Damen has some I believe.”

“Find them.” 

************************************

When Damen woke up, he walked out shirtless in a pair of sweatpants, yawning and scratching his stomach. He paused looking at the sight in front of him. Nicaise was spread out on the armchair, legs thrown over the arm watching TV. Laurent was on one sofa, Pallas on the other. Laurent had a pile of money in front of him, Pallas none.

“That watch on your wrist is nice. Use that.” Laurent said pointing at it.

“What’s going on here?”

Laurent glanced over. “Cards.” he said before glancing back, doing a double take. His eyes took in Damen’s shirtless form, and he slowly looked him over.

Damen stood straighter, his chest puffing out a bit. “See something you like?” he asked.

A faint blush covered Laurent’s cheeks, and he scoffed looking back at the cards. “Put a shirt on. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Damen brought his hand down, scratching his lower stomach again. He smirked when Laurent followed him from the corner of his eye. He walked into the kitchen, and poured a cup of coffee, before sticking it in the microwave. When it was done he came back down to sit next to Pallas. 

“Deal me in.” 

“With what money? Nicaise took all of it earlier.”

Damen laughed. “How about this, I let NIcaise keep the money and you deal me in. Then any money I win from you now, will be put back into the pot.”

Laurent quirked an eyebrow. “You think you’re going to win money from me big boy?”

“Ooo,” Damen wiggled his eyebrow. “Do we have nicknames now sweetcakes?”

Laurent wrinkled his nose up in disgust and threw some cards at him. “Your hand.” 

****************************************

Nik walked in a few hours later and Damen was handing Nicaise a note. It stated how much money Damen had to pay him. Nicaise was making him sign it like a contract.

“Damen!” Nik said exasperated. “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“I...uh...we were…”

“He was losing his money to me.” Laurent said, putting the cards away.

Nik glared at Laurent. “Damen. This is not a time to be fooling around.”

Damen looked chastised. “I’m going to jump in the shower real quick.” he said getting up, heading to the bathroom.

Laurent watched him go, eyes roaming from his back, to his ass, down his legs, and back up.

“Eyes away from the boss.”

Laurent rolled his eyes and turned away from Nik.

“You may be Damen’s type, but that’s not going to stop him if you betray us tonight.”

“Already told you I’m not. My information is good.”

By the time Damen had gotten out of the shower, the rest of his men appeared. They were sitting around the kitchen table talking, ignoring Laurent and Nicaise.

“Alright.” Damen said. “Charls, you and Nicaise will wait in the guest bedroom.”

“Why can’t we stay out here?” Nicaise asked.

“Because they don’t want us to hear them talking.” Laurent said getting up. “Come on puppy. Be a good dog and guard the door for you master.” he said, beckoning to Pallas.

“Don’t let them out of the room except to go to the bathroom, nor out of your sight until I return tonight.”

Pallas nodded and closed the door behind Laurent and Nicaise.

Laurent kept his eyes on the clock, and when it finally hit nine, he listened at the door. He heard voices talking, a door slammed, and then quiet. He waited five more minutes before turning the TV on, volume up.

“Help me tie the sheets and blankets together.” Laurent said.

“Why? What are you going to do? Climb out the window?” Nicaise said sarcastically.

“Precisely.”

Nicaise looked at him eyes wide. “Laurent. Were like a million feet up in the air! You can’t do that!”

“I’m only going one floor Nicaise. I’m on a time crunch and this would go much smoother if you helped.”

“If you die, I’m not mourning you.” Nicaise said, grabbing a blanket sighing. 

“I wouldn’t expect you too.” Laurent said. 

By the time 9:20 hit, the blankets, sheets, and pillowcases were all tied together.

“Alright. When I’m gone keep the TV on, so Pallas thinks we’re watching TV. Try not to ask for anything, but every once in a while pretend like you’re talking to me, or saying something to me about what is on the television. Lastly, make sure you put the pillow cases back on, and fix the bed back up. If all goes according to plan, they will never know I was at the docks.”

Laurent opened the sliding door, and stepped onto the balcony, which wrapped all the way around Damen’s suite. He tied one side of the rope to the balcony, and let it dangle. He then grabbed a shorter rope he made and tied it around his waist. He then tied the other end to the rope hanging from the balcony. That way something was tethering him to the rope. 

“Laurent.” Nicaise said in a small voice, as Laurent was climbing over the balcony. “Don’t fall.” And then in a quieter voice, barely audible. “Good luck.”

“Thanks kid.” Laurent said before swinging himself over the balcony, and landing on the other side, his feet between the rungs of the barrier. Bracing himself, he grabbed the rope and pushed off of the balcony. He paused to look at the window Jord had opened. He started to climb down slowly, and when he was level with the window, he walked sideways, and got one leg in before practically falling through, the rope around his waist stopping him from hitting the floor. He managed to sit on the sill, before untying the rope from his waist. He threw the other end of the rope back out the window, and shut it. 

It took him forever to climb down all those stairs, and when he climbed into Jord’s car he was ten minutes late and panting.

“Laurent!” Jord exclaimed excited. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Do you have all the stuff I asked for.”

Jord nodded. “Of course, but-”

“Then don’t just sit there. Drive. We can multitask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Spiti Sto Horio: The House in the Village  
> Kalos irthate: Welcome  
> Efcharisto: Thanks


	5. The Drop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler Alert: I was literally going to name this chapter Bau chic bau bau but decided to be serious. Let me know if you like it down below.

Damen and his crew arrived at the docks. They parked the SUV behind some crates and turned off the lights. They waited, and eventually they saw the lights of another car turning into the docks. They sat there until the other car parked, shut off, and two men climbed out.

Damen turned to Nik. “Do you know them?”

Nik shook his head. “They don’t belong to us.”

Damen nodded. “I don’t recognize them either.”

The two women sat on the hood of the car. One lit up a cigarette as they talked.

Damen, Nik, and Atkis walked up to them. The men eyed them, the one dropping the cigarette, then jumping off the car to smush it beneath her boot.

“You’re not the usual guys.”

“We’re not from Vere at all.”

“No? Then who are you?” one of the guys asked, hand reaching for his belt.

Nik, much faster, pulled out his gun and aimed it.

“I’m Damianos. One of the heads of Akielos.”

“Shit.” the other guy said. “Listen, we don’t want any trouble.” he said, putting both of his hands up. “We’re just doing what we’re told.”

“And who told you to smuggle drugs into my territory?”

The guy shook his head. “Can’t tell you that. She’ll kill us.”

“And we won’t if you don’t tell us what we want?” Nik asked, cocking his gun.

The man’s face paled.

Damen sighed. “We don’t have time to interrogate them. Vere should be here soon, and we don’t want to scare them away. Consider this your warning. Get out of here, and we better never catch you here again.”

The men nodded and got into their car, driving away.

“He said ‘she’d’ kill them. I bet they’re lackies for Vask.” Atkis said.

Damen nodded. “They do have a club in our territory. We laid down very strict rules for them to open it. I’ll have to pay Halvik a visit. Atkis, pull the car up.”

Atkis got into the SUV, and pulled it into the same spot the Vaskian car had been in. They got back in and waited.  
About 15 minutes later they saw a car pull into the lot. It drove right past them, and kept going further down. Eventually they stopped, and turned off their lights. Three guys got out of the car, and began to walk towards them. One of them was holding what looked like a big box.

“Thought Charls said they were bringing four?” Atkis said from the back seat.

“They’re not stupid.” Damen said. “The fourth is waiting in the car for a quick getaway in case something goes wrong. Let’s go.”

They got out of the car, and walked to meet them.

“Who the fuck are you?” the guy walking in the middle of the other two asked. “Halvik’s supposed to tell us if different people are coming.”

That confirmed for Damen what they had already suspected.

The man on the left elbowed him in the side. “What the fuck man. What if they don’t work for Halvik!”

“We don’t.” Damen said, pulling out his own gun, Nik and Atkis following suit. “We’re with Akelios, and you’re breaking our agreement by moving drugs into our area.”

The one on the left, who Damen was now starting to assume was the leader of the three of them, looked at Damen, his weapon, and then the weapons of the other two. They were evenly matched in numbers, but none of them had their guns drown. “Put the cooler down.” he said to the guy on the right. The guy did as he was told.

“We’re not breaking any agreement. There’s no drugs.”

Damen quirked his eyebrow. “We’re not stupid. What’s in the cooler than?”

“Wine.”

“Wine? And why would you be sneaking wine in, instead of just delivering it like a normal shipment. There’s no rule against wine.”

The man shrugged. “Don’t know. Just doing what we’re told.”

“Open it up.”

The man on the right didn’t move. The guy on the left nodded. “Do what he says.”

He opened the cooler, and sitting in it were a bunch of wine bottles, on top of ice. They all looked closed, and untampered with.

“How do I know the drug isn’t in those bottles?”

“Try it if you want.”

“I’ll do it boss.” Atkis said. “If they are laced, we don’t need you getting drugged.” he tucked the gun into his belt.

Damen and Nik kept their guns aimed. “Don’t try anything silly.”

Atkis walked over and grabbed one of the bottles. He opened his knife, and stuck it into the cork, pulling the cork out. He took a giant sip from the wine, than another. “How long does P.I.N.K usually take?”

Damen shrugged. “Not long. A few minutes?”

They waited in silence. Nothing happened.

“I feel fine boss.” Atkis said after a few minutes.

“Since there’s no drugs in here that we know of, you guys can go. But there could be P.I.N.K in any of these bottles so the cooler stays with us.”

“And what about our money? We come back without it the boss’ll be mad.”

“We take this back, test the rest of the bottles, there’s no drugs in them, I’ll hand deliver the money myself with an apology. Fair enough?”

“Yeah sure.”

“Good. Now get out of here.”

They watched the men leave before putting their guns away. There was a commotion at the car, but they assumed it was the driver asking what happened, and where the money was. They but the cooler in the back of the SUV, and got in.

“That little liar! I told you not to trust him Damen!”

Damen sighed, nodding sadly, his fingers around the steering wheel tightly. “Yeah. You did Nik. I trusted him wrongly, and should have listened to you. I’ll deal with him when I get back.”

“Properly?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?!” Damen snapped.

“Yeah, yeah boss. Sorry.”

As the meeting was going on, Laurent put his plan into motion. They parked on the far side, behind some shipping crates. Laurent changed into the uniform of a dock worker in the backseat. Ended up, he didn’t even need the disguise. His Uncle’s men were as lazy as always. You get what you pay for after all.

He walked up to the van, the driver playing some game on his phone, and opened the door climbing right into the passenger's seat.

“That was-hey who are you!” the driver exclaimed.

Before he could do anything, Laurent had his knife up to the driver’s throat. He took off the uniform hat with his other hand.

The driver’s eyes widened. “Laurent! You’re still alive. Your Uncle’s looking for you you know.”

“Yeah I know.” he quickly glanced out the front windshield to check on the progression of the meeting, than back to the driver.

The driver laughed. “You working for them now? How low you’ve fallen.”

Laurent smirked. “Just biding my time. Which we don’t have a lot of right now. I’m not supposed to be here. Probation and all. So I need you to pass along a message for me.”

“Fuck you. You’re not my boss. I ain’t passing along shit.”

Laurent sighed. “This really didn’t have to get violent, but….” He peeled the knife away from the man’s throat, and slammed it down into his thigh. “Give my regards to Uncle, and tell him I’m coming for him.” He pulled the knife out, blood spurting, the man clutching his leg as he screamed in pain. He got out of the car, closed the door quietly, and hurried back to Jord.

Jord drove him back to Damen’s penthouse, and Laurent called Nicaise from Jord’s phone.

Nicaise answered in a whisper, “Yes? Laurent that you?”

“Yes.”

“How’d everything go? Are you still alive?”

“I’m outside. I need you to cause a distraction, in about fifteen minutes so that I can get back in.”

“Got it.” he replied than hung up.

“Thanks Jord. I’ll call you again if I need you.”

He walked into the building, and went up to the person manning the reception desk. “Good evening. I seem to have lost my elevator key.”

The receptionist looked up. “Name?”

“The room is under Akielos, Damianos.”

“Can I see your I.D.?”

“Sadly, I don’t have one. I’m Damen’s new boyfriend. He was supposed to get me put into the log, but you know, we’ve been….” Laurent lowered his voice. “Busy. I’m sure you’ve seen me, and the little kid about. I’ve definitely seen you.”

“We’re not supposed to let anyone in if they’re not on the log. You’ll have to wait until Mr. Akielos gets back.”

“I would, I really would, but the kids home alone. I just ran out for a quick errand, and Damen won’t be back from his club until morning. I can’t leave the kid alone for the entire night. Just this once, can’t you make an exception? For the kid? I’m sure Damen would be very very grateful,” he looked at the nametag, “Josephine.”

She sighed. “Yeah, but just this once, and only because there’s a kid.”

“Thank you so so much!”

She nodded, and walked around the counter, over to the elevator. She scanned her key.

“Thanks again. Have a great night!”

Nicaise opened the guestroom door a smidge, and poked his head out. “Pallas, I need to use the bathroom.”

Pallas nodded, and moved away from the door. “Go ahead.”

Nicaise walked out closing the door behind him. He walked into the bathroom and started screaming bloody murder.  
Pallas ran to the bathroom. “What!? What happened?” he asked, gun out looking around. “A spider! I saw a giant spider!”

Pallas looked at him for a minute in disbelief, than put the gun away. “Where?”

Nicaise pointed towards the cabinet that held extra toilet paper.. “I saw it run behind there.”

Pallas sighed. “Alright kid. Wait outside, and I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

Nicaise walked into the hallway. He saw Laurent enter, and close the door quietly behind him. Nicaise waved his hand indicating he hurry to the guest room. Once Laurent was in Nicaise walked back into the bathroom. Pallas was moving the cabinet back into its spot. “I didn’t see anything.

“Forget about it. It’s not important”

“But what about the spider? You screamed like you saw a monster.”

“I really need to pee. I don’t think I can hold it anymore. This is more important than the spider.”

“Sure. If you see it again, let me know.”

When he was finished in the bathroom, he walked back into the guestroom. Laurent was already changed into his pajamas, and under the blankets. “Thanks Nicaise. Good job.”

************************************

 Damen walked into the guest room, and slammed the cooler down on the floor. Nicaise, and Laurent were pretending to be asleep.

“Rise and shine sweetheart!” Damen said, turning the lights on.

“What the fuck! People are trying to sleep here!” Nicaise yelled.

Laurent sat up slowly, making a show of rubbing his eyes, and letting out a yawn. “What did I tell you about calling me sweetheart?”

“Oh. You’re going to have a lot more to concern yourself with in a minute Charls.”

Laurent looked at the cooler at Damen’s feet. “Why? It seems like you got the P.I.N.K.”

Damen gestured to the cooler. “Go ahead and look inside.”

Laurent sighed, before swinging his feet of the bed. He stood up, and stretched, taking his time to walk to the cooler. He opened the lid, looking at the wine, and ice inside.

“What am I looking at exactly?”

“The utter lack of P.I.N.K. We opened a bottle. Atkis drank some and nothing happened.”

“Because it’s not in the wine.”

“And where else would it be?”

“Oh Damen. You lack imagination. Is this why you need your brother to help you run your Empire?” he asked picking up an ice cube. “Didn’t you wonder why a few bottles of wine needed this much ice? When have you ever seen wine sitting on ice?”

Damen paused. “I assumed it was for the P.I.N.K?”

Laurent glared at the ice like it had done something wrong to him, then opened his mouth, and popped it in sucking on it.

“What are you doing?!”

“Proving to you there’s P.I.N.K in here.” Laurent said, his words sounding muffled from the ice.

“But...that was a big ice cube.”

“Don’t worry. I can handle it, though we should probably head into the living room before it hits in. Nicaise, go back to sleep.”

“But-”

“I would rather you not see me under the effects.” he said before walking back into the living room.

Nik watched as Laurent walked out. “So Damen. What are we doing with him?”

“Waiting.”

“For?”

“He seems to think the P.I.N.K was in the ice. He’s testing that theory.”

Laurent chewed on the ice cube when it was small enough and swallowed. He then sat down on the couch, one hand thrown along the back, leg crossed. “If I’m going to be drugged up, you might as well pour me a glass of that wine to go with it Nikandros.” he said, waving his other hand.

“I am not your slave.”

“Fine then, Damianos. I don’t care who does it, as long as it gets done.”

“Damen, don’t you-” Nik started to say, but Damen was already walking back to the guest room

He grabbed a bottle, brought it into the kitchen. “Wine Nik?”

“No.” he said curtly.

Damen poured two glasses, and brought them over. Laurent held his hand open, and Damen handed it to him, sitting down next to him.

Laurent took a sip of the wine, before leaning over and putting it down on the table.

He turned to Damen. “You sure you want to sit so close to me lover? I’m sure you know the side effects of P.I.N.K after all?” he said, resting a hand on Damen’s thigh.

Damen looked down at the hand, and then up at Laurent, meeting his eyes. Laurent’s eyes were starting to get foggy, the bright blue a bit duller.

“Shit.” Damen said. “He was telling the truth. Get the ice to Kastor before it all melts. He’ll have somewhere to put it.”

“You can dismiss Pallas when you leave.” Laurent said. ”

Nik looked at Damen. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I just took a pretty large quantity of P.I.N.K. I’m about to become very….untoward.” Laurent said, nostril flaring up in disgust. “I’d rather not embarrass myself in front of more people than necessary.”

Damen turned to Nik. “You can send Pallas home. Charls told us the truth. He isn’t going to do anything stupid.”

Nik kept eye contact with Damen for a minute before sighing and looking away. “It’s not him I expect something stupid from. Keep your head clear Damen.” he said, before walking back into the guest bedroom, and grabbing the cooler. “Call me if you need me.”

“We won’t.”

“Wasn’t talking to you.” Nik mumbled. He opened the door, muttered to Pallas and left.

“Shame you didn’t keep one for yourself.” Laurent said, picking his glass of wine back up.

“Why?”

“I’ve never been fucked when both partners were on the drug.” Laurent said over the lip of his wine glass.

“I’m not going to make love to you when you’re on drugs.”

Laurent laughed. “We wouldn’t be making love. It would be pure animalistic fucking, lover. I know you want me. I see the way you look at me. Can feel your eyes on me, when you think I’m not looking.”

Damen raked his eyes over Laurent’s face. Laurent uncrossed his legs, and Damen’s eyes trailed downwards to watch the movement. He could see the start of Laurent’s arousal tenting his pants. Damen licked his lips, then pulled his eyes away.

He shot up off the couch. “I’m not touching you when you’re not in the right mindset. How about I make some food? That should soak up some of the drug?”

Laurent sighed, and tilted back his wine glass downing the rest. “If that’s what you really want to do.”

Damen nodded, and offered Laurent his hand. Laurent looked at it, then put the empty wine glass in it. He got off the couch, adjusted himself, and walked into the kitchen. He jumped up onto the counter watching Damen.

“What are you cooking?”

Damen opened the refrigerator. “I’m going to make Tyrovolia. It’s a remedy for hangovers, but I’m sure it’ll still help.”

“And what is it exactly?”

“It’s goat cheese. I’m going to make it into a pudding, almost like rice pudding, with honey, sesame, dried fruit, and almonds.”

“Alright…..” Laurent said hesitantly.

“You’ll like it. It’s nice and sweet. I figured it’d be more to your taste than an omelet right now.”

“Still not fitting my taste exactly at the moment.” Laurent said, his eyes looking pointedly at Damen’s ass, as he was bent over inside the fridge.

Damen pulled out the ingredients, and turned around. He looked scandalized at the way Laurent was looking at him.

“Don’t look at me like I’m a piece of meat.”

Laurent rolled his eyes, and watched as Damen began to prepare the meal. When he was finished he placed two bowls, and sat down at the table.

“Are you going to join me?”

Laurent shook his head, staying on the counter. “Feed me.”

Damen looked down at his bowl thinking, then got up, and walked over to Laurent. Laurent spread his legs, so that Damen could step in between them. Damen put some on the spoon and held it up. Laurent grabbed Damen’s wrist, and brought it to his mouth. Making eye contact, he took the spoon into his mouth, and wrapped his lips around it, sucking. When Damen gulped, looking at him, Laurent finally pulled away, and licked his lips.

“Not bad.”

Damen nodded dumbly, and scooped up some more.

Laurent shook his head. “But, that’s still not what I want. I could have easily had Nik test the ice. I knew what I was doing Damianos. I knew the effects it would have on me. I knew it would give me the courage needed to pursue you, instead of being shy, and staying quiet. So, I’m going to ask you one more time, are you going to man up and fuck me?”

“You didn’t ask before. You ordered in that bossy way of yours.”

“Shut up will you. You’re not so cute when you’re yapping.” Laurent said, grabbing the back of his head, and slamming their lips together.

Damen dropped the bowl, it shattering across the floor, his hand coming to Laurent’s hip, as he kissed him back.

Laurent broke away from the kiss. “I have three rules. One: don’t get too handsy. Two: If I tell you to stop doing something, stop. Right away. Three: No ordering me around. Also, I don’t give blow jobs.”

“That’s actually four things.”

“I can count Damianos.”

“Yes. Of course. My mistake.” he said, leaning in for another kiss.

Laurent’s hands came to wrap around Damen’s waist. “Carry me to the bedroom.”

Damen laughed and picked him off of the counter. He took the stairs carefully, one by one. He walked into the bedroom, dropped Laurent on the bed, then went over to switch on the lights. Laurent sat up looking around the room. “You would have silk sheets.” he said rolling his eyes, as he slid his palms over Damen’s red silk comforter.

“They’re more comfortable on the skin.”

“They’re also slippery, and get too cold in winter.”

“That’s what heat is for. Or body warmth.” Damen said wiggling his eyebrows.

Laurent rolled his eyes, and threw his shirt on the floor. “Instead of making bad jokes, why don’t you get undressed?”

Damen nodded, and undid his white button up shirt, letting it fall to the floor. Laurent’s eyes watched as Damen’s hand undid his belt buckle. Not bother to pull the belt out of the pants, Damen opened his pants, letting them hang dangerously low on his hips.

“Did you mean only me?”

“I’m watching.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I didn’t know I had to provide dinner and a show.” Damen said. With a smirk he simultaneously tugged down his pants, and boxers before stepping out of them.

Laurent’s eyes went directly to his crotch.

“See something you like?”

Laurent shrugged. “At least your proportionate everywhere. I would have been really disappointed if you weren’t.”

“And I’d hate to disappoint.” Damen said, walking over to the bed.

Putting a hand on Laurent’s chest, he pushed him backwards slowly, giving Laurent time to protest if he wanted to. Laurent laid on the bed, body tense while he looked up at him, as Damen climbed over him.

“What did I tell you about having your hair up?”

“What did I tell you about giving me orders?” Laurent said, but turned his head so that his cheek was resting against the blankets. “Undo it if you want.”

Damen rolled the bottom hair tie, off of the braid. Slowly he untwisted the braid, not wanting to tug or pull on Laurent’s hair. Once the braid was undone, he ran his fingers through it, spreading it out. Laurent turned his face again to look up at Damen.

Damen gasped looking down at him. “Charls….you’re beautiful.”

Laurent tensed again. “So I’ve been told.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“What comes after usually isn’t good.” Laurent bucked his hips up, wanting to end the conversation there. “Get rid of these would you?”

“My pleasure sweetheart.”

Laurent let out a gasp, and the jeans brushed over his slight arousal, an effect of the drug that didn’t seem to go away.

Damen smirked, running his hands up Laurent’s thighs, spreading them. “Why don’t we see if we can get that fully erect?”

“Don’t try the dirty talk you’re terrib-”

He got cut off, as Damen took him in his mouth, through his boxers. Damen sucked lazily, until his length fully hardened. “There we go.” he said, before pulling the boxers off, Laurent’s dick springing free.

He studied Laurent’s cock. The base, tinted with a hint of red from the blood flow, a slightly darker shade then the paleness of Laurent’s thighs.

“Don’t stare at it like that!”

Damen chuckled. “Can’t I appreciate a piece of art. Your coloring is truly magnificent. Look.” he said, wrapping his hand around Laurent’s dick. “Look at the contrast.”

Laurent looked down at Damen’s hand on him, a blush making it way across his cheeks. It was nice to look at, sexy even, though he would never admit that to the other. Damen would never shut up about it.

“Let go of me.”

Damen frowned, but did as he was told. Laurent flipped over, chest on the bed, ass in the air. “I’m tired of hearing you yapping. Just get it over with and shove it in already.”

“That’s…” Damen paused. “That’s not how it’s done. You know that right?”

“Pretty sure that’s how it is. Dick, meet ass.” Laurent said, wiggling his butt.

“That would hurt.”

“I can handle it, I’m not some girl.”

Laurent heard Damen sigh, and then felt the other man move closer behind him. Damen’s two hand gripped his hips, and Laurent tensed, waiting for the moment when Damen would push in. Instead, Damen’s hands caressed the globes of his butt, and parted his cheeks. Before Laurent could ask what he was doing, he felt something wet lap at his hole.

“Damen!”

Damen hummed in question, and continued. HIs tongue swirling around the bud, before dipping in.

“Wh-what do you think you’re...ah.”

Damen chuckled, and pulled his tongue out. He spread Laurent’s cheeks more, his hands holding then apart, as he tongue-fucked Laurent’s hole. Laurent’s hands gripped the sheets, squeezing them, knuckles turning white, as he tried not to make noise.

“If you’re not going to let me hear your beautiful moans,” Damen said, licking his lips. “Then make your mouth more useful.” He put a finger in front of Laurent’s mouth, before burying his face back in his ass.

Laurent, for half a second, thought about biting Damen’s finger at the order, but he really didn’t want Damen to stop what he was doing. He nipped at the tip of his finger, before opening his mouth, and taking it in. Damen let him suck on it for a minute, before taking his finger back. As he pulled his tongue out, he pushed his finger in, replacing it. Laurent jerked in surprised, a moan escaping from his lips, which he quickly slammed shut again.

“You’re so tight.” Damen said, wiggling the finger around. “I can only imagine how my dick’s going to feel.”

“Then hurry up. The longer you take, the longer you wait.”

He felt Damen pull away. Damen got off of the bed, and went to his night stand. Opening the drawer he pulled out a bottle of lube, and a condom.

“How do you want to do this?” Damen asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You want top or bottom?”

“I figured you were going to fuck me.”

“Oh I am sweet heart.”

Laurent heard the bottle open, and the spurt as some gel came out.

“But I didn’t know if you’d prefer to ride or be ridden.” he said, as he slid a finger back inside Laurent.

Laurent groaned and pushed back against the finger.

“I’d...I’d rather be on top.” He replied, after a moment, like he was surprised he even had a choice.

Damen added another, scissoring the two together. The stretching burned a bit, but not enough to be uncomfortable, or to stop Laurent’s brain from working. “That’s enough. Put the condom on.”

Damen pulled his fingers out, and opened the condom, rolling it on. Laurent watched him, sitting on his knees.

“Against the headboard.”

Daman moved to the other end of the bed, and sat up against the headboard, smirking at Laurent. He spread his legs invitingly. “Alright cowboy, giddy up.”

Laurent scoffed. “I hate you.” he said. He crawled between Damen’s legs. Turning his back towards him, he slowly sat himself on Damen’s lap, the head of Damen’s cock entering him. Damen put his hand on Laurent’s hips, helping him lower himself until Laurent was fully seated.

“Alright?”

Laurent nodded, shifting a bit, trying to get used to it. Damen let Laurent take his time, rubbing his hips lightly, trying to soothe him.

“My un-I’ve never taken someone this big before.”

“Take your time.”

Laurent, never liking being told what to do, lifted his hips slowly, before moving back down. Then he tried again, this time lifting all the way off, before taking it back in, stretching himself out more. Slowly, a comfortable pace started, a whimper of pleasure leaving Laurent’s mouth.

“God Charls. Those sounds, your skin.” He said, running a hand from Laurent’s hip, up his spine, the back down, caressing. He leaned into nuzzle him, taking some skin from the curve right between his neck and shoulder into his mouth, sucking.

By the time he was done leaving a mark, bright red on Laurent’s pale skin, Laurent was moving faster. Damen bucked his hips up to meet him, each time Laurent pulled up. Damen tried to keep the pace slow, figuring that that was what Laurent wanted, until Laurent leaned forward, back arched, hands on the bed, pushing back against him.

“Fuck me like you mean it you barbarian.”

Damen couldn’t say no to that. He put a hand on Laurent’s back, holding him in the arched position, his other hand on the bed, holding himself up as he thrust into Laurent. He tilted his hips a bit and Laurent let out a shocked gasp. Damen knew he hit that spot as Laurent gyrated his hips in circles, the whimpers leaving his mouth, in quicker, closer together sounds. Finally, one final hard thrust had Laurent tensing, and cumming. Damen followed soon after, Laurent’s hole pulsating, squeezing him tightly, as they both rode out their orgasms.

Laurent pulled off of Damen panting. When he caught his breath, he swung his legs off the bed and got up. Damen watched him, hand on his stomach, still catching his own breath. Laurent picked up Damen’s white dress shirt, and wiped the cum off of his stomach, and his dick.

“What are you doing?” Damen finally asked, as Laurent started dressing.

“Going to take a shower. I can’t very well go back to the guest room and sleep with Nicaise smelling like sex.”

Damen paused. “I thought....that you would…”

“What? Stay here?” Laurent asked, quirking his eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“Should have pegged you as a cuddler. No thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.” Laurent said before heading out of Damen’s room, and closing the door.

************************************

 Laurent woke up to NIcaise silently watching TV next to him. He sat up, and Nicaise handed him a glass of water from off the nightstand. Laurent took it gratefully, and downed it in a matter of seconds. He took the glass back.

“So what happened last night?”

“The ice contained P.I.N.K, like I told him.”

“And….”

“And I let him fuck me.”

“He fucked you? And you slept in here? Did he throw you out like a whore?” Nicaise said getting outraged.

Laurent shook his head. “I left.”

“Why would you do that?”

“It’s bad enough I spread for my brother’s killer. I’m supposed to what, let him cuddle me after?”

“Yes.” Nicaise said exasperated. “You have his trust, and now you have an in to his circle. Don’t fuck it up by being petty.”

Laurent sighed and rubbed his face. “I know, it’s just…”

Nicaise nodded, and rubbed his back. “It’s just for a bit longer.”

“You’re right. I can do it. I’ll try harder.”

Nicaise slapped his back. “Good. Now, I thought I heard someone moving around not so long before you woke.”

Laurent sat up straighter. “Let’s get this over with then.”

He walked out into the kitchen where Damen was already pouring himself a second cup of coffee.

“Good morning.” Laurent said quietly.

Damen turned around looking at him.

“Good morning. I put on a pot of water for you.”

“Thanks. I...I’m sorry.” Laurent said hesitantly, before walking over to him. “About last night. I shouldn’t have run away.” he said, placing a palm on Damen’s t-shirt clad chest.

Damen nodded looking at him. “It’s alright.”

“I got scared. I did just get out of an abusive relationship after all.”

“I would never lay a hand on you.”

“I’m starting to learn that.” he said, before leaning up and pressing a chaste kiss to Damen’s lips.

Damen placed his cup on the counter next to him, and placed that hand on Laurent’s hip to stop him from pulling away. He kissed him again. “I enjoyed last night. I’d like it if we could do it again.”

“So would I. I want to appreciate it with a clear head.”

Damen captured his lips again in a lazy kiss.

“Ugh not in the place I eat.” Nicaise said walking in.

Laurent pulled away.

“Fucking gross.” Nicaise grabbed Damen’s cup off the counter, and took a sip, before sitting down at the table.

“That’s-”

Laurent kissed him again to shut him up. “I wouldn’t argue with Nicaise before he finished his first cup. You’d lose, and it’s too early to dispose of a body.”

Damen sighed, and grabbed another. “I figured we could grab some bagels before going shopping.”

“Shopping, for what?” He asked, coming to sit besides Nicaise.

“For clothes. My boyfriend needs a better wardrobe.”

Laurent quirked his eyebrow, as Damen set a mug of tea in front of him. “Is that what I am now?” He asked, looking him over. He picked up the mug and blew on it lightly. “I guess I could do worse.” he said with a shrug.

Damen’s face broke out in a smile. “Great. That’s great.”

“Great. I’d like to stop by the hotel first and change. I’ve been in these clothes for over a day now.”

“I was thinking you two would pack your things up.”

“And why would we do that?”

“A hotel like that is no place for a kid.”

“Not a kid.” Nicaise growled.

“I have plenty of room here.” Damen continued on, over him.

“You want us to move in?”

“I... there’s the guest room. I’m not saying you have to stay in mine. You can room with Nicaise.”

“We accept.” Nicaise said. “If I have to live in a dump, I’d rather live in the nicer one.”

“Fine.” Laurent said. “But we don’t owe you anything.”

“I don’t expect you too”

After they finished their drinks, Damen drove them back to the hotel, where they quickly packed their meager belongings, and Laurent and Nicaise changed into new clothes. He then took them to a small suit store.

“My personal tailor, who surprisingly is also named Charls.” Damen said with a pause.

“It’s a common name.” Laurent said climbing out of the car.

Laurent was a bit skeptical walking in to this no name suit shop. After all, Damen tended to wear unbuttoned shirts, and slacks. Laurent wasn’t sure he knew what a whole suit was. By the time they left though, Laurent had the store’s business card, and the owners personal number written down.

_When they walked into the shop a brown haired man ran up to them from the back room, glasses askew, a tape measure wrapped around his neck, and scissors in his hair._

_“Mr. Akielos! It’s been a while. How are you?”_

_“I’m good Charls. How are you doing?”_

_“Good good. We just got a bunch of new fabric in, so I was going through it. Thinking about some designs.”_

_“You make your own suits?” Laurent asked._

_“Yes. Of course. Those other suit makers don’t know good fabric if it bit them on their behinds. They use drab black, and navy fabric. Boring really, with everyone looking the same.”_

_Laurent nodded, pursing his lips a bit. Now he had even less faith in this place. A shop that made their own suits, and wasn’t famous…._

_“What can I do for you today Mr. Akielos? We don’t have much in your size right now, but I’d gladly do a special order for you.” Charls said, taking in Damen’s form._

_“It’s not for me. It’s for my assoc-”_

_“Boyfriend.” Laurent said with a smile, locking his arm inside Damen’s._

_Damen smiled looking at Laurent. “Yes.” he said clearing his throat, “Boyfriend.”_

_“Oh! Yes. Good. And what is your name?”_

_“Charls.”_

_“Why that’s my name too!” the man exclaimed._

_“Yes. So I’ve been told.”_

_“What are you looking for today?”_

_“We want at least 4 jackets, and a couple of pair of pants. Preferably interchangeable with one another.”_

_Charls nodded. “And what style would you like?”_

_“Not black.” Laurent said._

_Charls nodded again. “Good choice. That would drown you out, give you a funeral look.” He quieted, studying Laurent’s looks, coloring, and figure. “Do you mind if I put you in some pieces I’ve been working on? We can figure out your style together from there?”_

_“That’s fine.”_

_“Great! Guilliame!” Charls shouted._

_A man came from the back, in much less a hurry, and more put together than Charls. “Take his measurements, while I grab some stuff from the back!”_

Charls was a bit out of the ordinary. Not the smartest man he ever met, but he did know a lot about fabric and design. Laurent would make sure to use him after he took his place back.

Once they finished with Laurent’s suits, Damen took them shopping for Nicaise. He was excited to be able to buy whatever he wanted, without having to pick from a second hand shop. He took a long time, but Laurent let him. Nicaise had always dressed in what he thought his clients would like. Too sexual for a child. This time Nicaise could choose what he liked, and what he wanted. He had to find his own style for himself.

“I’ll put the bags in the guest room. You can unpack them, and use the closest and dresser.”

Laurent stilled him with a hand on his arm. “Nicaise’s can go in the guest room. I was thinking mine could go in yours?”

Damen grinned. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Make sure not to wrinkle them. I don’t want to iron when I don’t have to.”

 ************************************

Damen left for work before Laurent did, and when he walked into the back room Kastor, and Jokaste were already there, along with Nik.

Laurent closed the door behind him. “What did I miss?”

Everyone looked over, only Damen giving him a smile.

“Who’s this?” Kastor asked looking Laurent over.

Laurent felt better, more in his comfort zone now that he was in a suit. He chose a suede midnight green jacket. The jacket had red, white, and light purple flowers on it, along with some buds on leaves. The flowers started from the bottom of his right hand sleeve, and trailed up to his shoulder, stopping half way down his right side. The whole left side of his jacket was patterned, except for the lower half of his left arm. The lapel was black, and cut pretty low. He wore a white high collared dress shirt underneath, the one black button on the jacket done, the bottom of his sleeves poking out from his cuffs. He had braided part of his hair, and had it all pulled up into a bun.

Laurent ignored Kastor’s question, and sat down next to Damen on the couch. Damen had a white shirt on also, half unbuttoned like always, and black slacks. He threw his arm over the back of the couch behind Laurent’s back.

“Wine?” he asked.

Laurent shook his head. “Water.”

They were silent as the woman in the corner poured his drink. He took the time to take in everyone in the room. Nik was leaned against the wall, lips pursed at Damen’s arm behind Laurent. Kastor, Damen’s half brother was in a chair, Jokaste in the other. Kastor was older than Damen, by what Laurent guessed was a few years. His coloring, and eyes were the same. His hair a bit longer than Damen’s with some scruff along his jaw. Jokaste, looked as put together as last time. Her hair was also in a bun, giving a similar look to Laurent. She was wearing a hot pink suit, with a low cut black shirt underneath, and black heels. She was staring at Laurent, studying him.

After he was handed the water, the woman was dismissed, and they were left alone.

“You going to answer my question? Who is this?”

“Obviously Damen’s new toy.” Jokaste said.

“And he’s here because…?”

“Because Damen’s fucking him.”

“Actually, because I’m the one to thank for all of your new supply of P.I.N.K. I’m Charls by the way, and I can speak for myself thank you.” he took a sip of his water. “I also assume you’re here because you’re fucking Kastor?” Laurent said with a quirk of his eyebrow. “So I wouldn’t be so quick to judge another spreading their legs.”

“Fucking both of them,” Nik grumbled from the wall.

“Ah.” Laurent said, and leaned back against Damen’s arm. “Options are the way to go.”

“I’m Kastor’s wife now, and I’ve proven myself to be substantial to this operation.”

“So have I.” said Laurent. “You’ll be raking in money from that haul for quite a while.”

“And how do we know that wasn’t just to get an in with us?” she asked.

“Because if that was the case, we wouldn’t have given you that much of our stock. And as Damen can attest to, I fled here with a ward. We were both abused by members of Vere. If my idea was to take you over from the inside, I would just do it. No need for games.”

Jokaste went to open her mouth again, but Damen flicked his wrist up. “I trust him.” He said. “Just like I trusted you, and gave you a chance. Give him the same.”

“Fine. He can be on probation for now.” Kastor said.

“The people we caught during the pick-up were Vaskian.They’re trying to encroach on our territory. That will have to be dealt with eventually, but I think our bigger problem at the moment is Vere.”

Kastor nodded. “What were you thinking?”

“I’d like to not have another full-blown war. Not after just a few years of peace.”

“You should meet with them.” Laurent said. “In neutral territory. The temporary boss, he’s not so level headed. He probably wants a war. But Aleron’s son, Laurent, will take over in a couple of months. He is. He wouldn’t want a war either.

“How sure about that are you?” Damen asked.

“Positive.”

“And how do you know that?” Jokaste asked. “He’s probably being groomed to start a war.”

“We were close, before I ran.”

“Why didn’t he help you then?”

“His Uncle. His Uncle’s dangerous, and wants power. He has to take care of himself first.”

“Alright.It’s worth a shot if another war can be avoided.” Kastor paused thinking. “But it’ll have to be somewhere neutral like you said.”

“Marlas.”

“Where the last war ended?”

Laurent nodded. “Neither one of our gangs have used it since. It’s tainted with death and memories. No one will want to start another battle there. And since it’s been empty for so long, no one will have an advantage. There won’t be any traps set. It’s the perfect place to have a chat.”

“How does that sound?” Damen asked the rest of the room.

Kastor and Jokaste looked at one another and nodded. Nik grunted again from the back of the room. “Great. I’ll get word sent to Vere.”


	6. The One With The Flashback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you catch my lovely friends reference in the title for this chapter? No? That's okay haha. Anyway this is the last chapter that was BETA'D so after this don't expect perfect things! 
> 
> Get ready for a (angsty?) flashback chapter. If you enjoy lemme know below!

Thankfully, in the end they decided to rent out a small lounge in a hotel nearby the warehouse, instead of using the warehouse itself. Laurent would have been able to handle it if he had to, but the thought of seeing his Uncle again for the first time, in the place where his brother was murdered, with his brother’s murderer, was a bit much for him. 

 

He buttoned the final button on his jacket, and tugged the end of it to make sure it was fully straightened out.

 

“You look fine.” Nicaise said. “Well put together. That’ll anger him. I’m sure he’s been thinking you were lying in a ditch, or sleeping in a cardboard box.” 

 

Laurent nodded. “Pallas is going to stay here with you. We’re just supposed to be a talk, and it’s in a public place, so nothing should go wrong. But you never know with him.” 

 

“It’ll be fine Plus, you’re rambling. Get your shit together Laurent.”

 

Laurent nodded. “You’re right. I can’t have anyone else see that I’m rattled.”

 

“I didn’t know you could.”

 

Laurent laughed. “Everyone does. Some just show it better than others, and I try never to show it.”

  
  


He gave himself one last look in the mirror. He was wearing a suede jacket. There was a gold brocade pattern on both sides of his jacket from his shoulders, about a quarter way down his chest. It continued on the back for a quarter, ending in a curved triangular point. The brocade pattern was also on the two buttons, and the flaps of both pockets. He had another white shirt on underneath. The collar and the line down his chest where the buttons were, was done in the same gold brocade pattern. His pants were black, the pocket line also patterned. His hair was in a faux side shaved, tightly woven braid, down his back. 

 

“See you soon.”

 

Nicaise nodded. “Good luck.”

 

Laurent met Damen downstairs. He was in the kitchen talking with Nik, and Kastor. 

 

“About time.” Nik said. “You’re almost as bad as a girl.”

 

“Excuse me.  _ Some _ people like to look well put together.” he said, nose scrunched up looking Nik over. “We don’t all like leaving the house looking homeless.”

 

Damen stared at him breath catching. “I think you look gorgeous.”

 

Laurent looked him over. He was in a well tailored grey jacket. The white shirt underneath, actually fully buttoned for once. The pants hugged him, a bit snug. He half hoped Damen turned around so he could see if the back framed his ass just as well.

 

“You don’t look so bad yourself lover. If we get out of this in once piece, you’ll have to let me strip you out of that.”

 

Nik groaned. “Don’t be disgusting. Let’s get going.”

 

They all piled into one van and drove over to the hotel. The four of them entered, and walked up to the lounge door. A man was standing outside. Laurent didn’t recognize him. He must be new.

 

“Mr. DeVere is in there with only one guard. They are unarmed. He asks that you do the same.”

 

Damen looked at Kastor. “What do you think?”

 

“Do we have a choice?” Kastor turned to the man. “And if we decide not to unarm, or to bring more men inside?”

 

“You can, but he might see it as a slight.”

 

“You worked with them. What do you think?”

 

“I think they are not to be trusted, but I doubt even he will start anything in such a public place in the middle of the day.” Laurent turned towards the guard. “How do we know they don’t have any weapons? We didn’t see them disarm.”

 

The guard shrugged. “You’ll just have to believe me. Just like I’ll have to believe that you’ll give up all your weapons.”

 

He looked back at Damen, and Kastor. “I don’t like it, but I think going in there with all our weapons and men, will be more incentive for them to have a reason to start a war.”

 

“I agree.” Damen said looking at his brother.

 

“So which two of us are going in there.” Kastor asked.

 

“I busted them so I should go in.” Damen said. “I also think Laurent should go in with me. His inside knowledge on Vere might be helpful.”

 

“Alright. Nik and I will be right outside the door. If you need any help, shout, and we will be in there right away.”

 

“I know.” 

 

Damen handed his gun, and knife to Nik. Nik turned to Laurent.

 

“I don’t have anything. Which we’re going to have to rectify once this is over.”

 

“I’ll get you a gun.”

 

“And a knife.”

 

“And a knife.”

 

“And something for Nicaise too.”

 

“He’s a child.”

 

“Him too.”

 

Damen sighed, they didn’t have time for arguing. “Him too.” 

 

“Just go in already!” Nik said. “We only got the hour.”

 

Damen looked at Laurent. “You think your ex is the one in there with him.”

 

Laurent sighed, looking at Damen. “Probably not the best time to tell you this, but that was a lie. The truth is worse than that, which knowing him, you’re about to find out.”

 

“Wha-”

 

“Open the door.” Laurent told the guard.

 

The guard opened it gesturing them inside.

 

“You first.” Laurent said.

 

“We’re going to discuss your lying later.” Damen said, still looking at him shocked.

 

“Of course. Now get in there.”

 

Damen walked in. Laurent’s Uncle was sitting at a table, a drink in front of him. Govart was standing behind him. He didn’t bother standing up.

 

“Mr. Akielos. Please sit.” he said, nodding to the chair in front of him.

 

Damen pulled the chair out, and sat down.

 

Laurent took a deep breath, and followed him inside. He walked in, back straight, head high. He didn’t glance at his Uncle once, his eyes catching on Govart. He walked over to Damen’s chair, and sat down on his lap, arm around Damen’s shoulder. Finally, he met his Uncle’s gaze.

 

“Laurent.” he said. “Good to see that you’re okay.”

 

“Uncle.” he felt Damen tense under him. “Lying wastes both of our time.” he looked up at Govart again. “Still alive I see. I’ll aim better next time.”

 

Govart growled and took a step forward. His Uncle put a hand in the air, and Govart stilled.

 

“How’s your shoulder Uncle?”

 

“Fine.”

 

“That’s also a shame.”

 

“The whore still with you?”

 

“You mean Nicaise? Yes, he is.”

 

He looked at Damen. “He pass himself around to your men yet?”

 

“Nicaise!? He’s only a child!”

 

Laurent’s Uncle shrugged. “Not anymore. He’s almost 15.”

 

Damen’s fist clenched, and Laurent put his hand on it, squeezing. “He’s not the reason we’re here Uncle. We’re here because some of your men were found attempting to sell a large number of P.I.N.K to the Vaskians.”

 

“That’s not new, nor is there a rule against it.”

 

“There is when it’s in Akielos territory.”

 

“I wasn’t aware that’s where it was taking place.”

 

“You expect us to believe that you didn’t know where a drop that large was taking place?”

 

“I knew about it. The Vaskian’s are good customers. I didn’t know it was in Akielos territory. I thought my men were smart enough to know not to do that, and to know where the borders were.”

 

“Fine Uncle, lets pretend you’re telling the truth. We can forgive your negligence this one time, but only this once. Next time, we won’t.”

 

He looked at Laurent and then at Damen. “You let him handle all of your meetings for you?

 

“He seems to be doing just fine on his own.” Damen said, glancing at Laurent, a small smile on his lips.

 

His Uncle laughed. “I see. You’re fucking. That’s what Laurent does. He wants power, so he fucks his way to the top. Don’t let him fool you. He will betray you also. He’s not that good in the bedroom to lose your entire Empire too.”

 

Laurent tensed and stood up. “Stay out of his territory, and he’ll stay out of yours Uncle. Let’s go Damen.” he walked over to the door, and threw it open, before walking out.

 

“Damen,” Laurent’s Uncle said when he was almost at the door. “Enjoy him while it lasts, but sleep with your eyes open won’t you. Veretian’s are snakes, especially my dearest whore of a Nephew.”

 

Damen’s hand tightened around the handle, and he slammed the door shut, the handle coming off as he pulled it. He looked at the handle in his hand, and gave it to Nik. 

 

“What happened?” Kastor asked handing Damen back his weapons.

 

Damen looked over at Laurent. His face showed nothing, but Damen could see that his body was still tense.

 

“We’ll talk at my place. I’d rather not run into that man again. Call Jokaste and tell her to meet us there.” 

 

They left the hotel, and the ride back to Damen’s suite was silent, and full of tension. Kastor wanted to know what happened, Nik kept glancing at Laurent as if expecting him to kill them all, and Damen wanted to get Laurent alone to talk.

 

They walked into Damen’s suite, and Nicaise and Pallas were on the floor rolling around. Jokaste was watching them amused. Nicaise looked up.

 

“Pallas is teaching me to wrestle!” Nicaise said, apparently not caring that he was losing terribly.

 

Laurent quirked an eyebrow. “I can see that. You look like an animal rolling around on the floor like that.”

 

“How’d it go boss?” Pallas asked from the ground.

 

“We all need to talk. I want to ask you some questions Nicaise. Everyone sit down.”

 

He untangled himself from Pallas and stood up. Pallas got up brushing himself off, and sat down on the couch. Nicaise climbed up next to him, Nik on the other side of Pallas. Kastor sat down in the chair, and Jokaste on the chair’s arm. Damen and Laurent remained standing. Damen in the middle of all of them, Laurent against the wall, arms crossed.

 

“Before we get into details, I’d like to introduce you all to Laurent DeVere.”

 

Nikandros stood up. “I knew there was a reason I didn’t like you. There was something off about you you lying piece of shit.” he said pointing a finger at Laurent, and then turned and pointed at Damen. “And you. If you thought with your brain instead of your cock everytime you see a blonde, you would have noticed also!”

 

“Down doggy.” Laurent said. “You shouldn’t talk to your master like that.”

 

Nik clenched his fist and started forward. Damen put a hand on his chest. “Sit down.”

 

He grumbled, but did so anyway. “So what is he still doing here?”

 

“He wasn’t lying about everything. He was running from something. I want to make sure it’s all true though.” he looked at Nicaise.

 

“What was your relationship with the older DeVere?”

 

“Purely business. He gave me a room, money, nice things, and I let the old perv fuck me whenever he was horny.”

 

Jokaste gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. “You’re just...how old?”

 

“Almost 15. Too old for him.”

 

“For how long?” she whispered almost afraid to ask.

 

“About three years. He promised me I’d be set for life. He didn’t honor that promise, and wanted me gone.”

 

Damen looked at Laurent. “He hinted you….he…”

 

Laurent tensed up against the wall, saying nothing.

 

“You’re his nephew. How could he?”

 

“What,” Laurent pushed off the wall. “makes you think I’m okay with telling the entire room that  my uncle bent me over like a little slut?”

 

Damen looked back at the others. He had forgotten they were there. “Laurent, I…”

 

“No. Fuck you Damianos.”

 

He flinched as Laurent stormed up the stairs and slammed the door. Damen took a step towards the stairs.

 

“I wouldn’t.” Nicaise said. “That would be a bad idea. When he is in a mood like this, he needs to be alone. He’ll murder the first person who walks through that door.”

 

Kastor was the one to break the awkward silence that followed. “I guess we’re starting another war then?”

 

Jokaste stood up. “Of course we are. We can’t have him out there molesting other boys!”

 

“That’s what I wanted to discuss with you. Make sure you were all okay with going to war. I’m glad we’re already on the same page. Right?” he asked looking at Nik.

 

Nik sighed. “Yeah, we are.” he said reluctantly.

 

“Though there are somethings I need to discuss with Laurent, and some other things I need to think about. If we could meet again tomorrow?”

 

“Of course.” Jokaste said. “Let’s go everyone.”

 

Damen looked at Nicaise. He shook his head.

 

“You let Laurent come to you. You go up there now it’s your funeral.”

 

Damen sighed. “Yeah I know, but I’ve never shied away from a challenge.”

 

He walked upstairs and knocked on the door. When he didn’t get an answer, he opened it and walked it.

 

“I didn’t say that you could come in.”

 

“It’s my room.”

 

Laurent glared at him. “Thought we were sharing lover.”

 

“We’re going to war with your Uncle.”

 

“And once you have Vere?”

 

“I’ll give your gang back to you. It’s yours after all.”

 

“You’re not going to take my territory for yourself?”

 

“We had a deal. Your Uncle broke that deal. We need to show Vere we’re serious about it. Once we do that, you can have it back, as long as our peace treaty stands afterwards.”

 

“Deal.” Laurent got up from the bed and went to the closet, taking his suits out. 

 

Damen watched him. “What are you doing?”

 

“Moving to the guest room.”

 

“Why? Laurent I’m sorry for what I said. How I acted down there. I was angry, and sometimes it gets the better of me. I wanted to help you.”

 

Laurent ignored him, and continued taking out his suits, throwing them on the bed.

 

“Sweetheart.” Damen grabbed his wrist, the other hand coming around his waist. “I’m sorry. Stay with me.” He placed a chaste kiss on Laurent’s neck.

 

Laurent growled, and turned, breaking his wrist from Damen’s grasp. “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever fucking touch me. Not now, not ever again.”

 

Damen raised his hands in the air and stepped back. “What’s wrong? I know I shouldn’t have handled the situation like that but I was just so….angry.”

 

“Do you not get it? Are you that fucking dense? You’re helping me get Vere back. I got what I wanted out of this relationship. I can stop degrading myself by spreading my legs for my brother’s killer.”

 

Damen paused, then his eyes widened in realization. He had been so caught up on everything that was going on, he hadn’t even thought about who Laurent truly was.

 

“That was you.” Damen whispered.

 

“Now, could you leave so I can finish grabbing my shit in peace? It’s bad enough I have to deal with you and your whining until this war is over, but I definitely don’t want to look at your ugly excuse for a face now.”

 

“Sure Laurent.” He walked over to the door. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth.” he said, before closing the door.

 

Laurent collapsed on the bed as soon as he was gone, head in his hands to compose himself. Damen walked back down the stairs, and plopped down next to Nicaise.

 

“Shame. I was hoping to inherit.”

 

“Just because you’d be here at the time of my death, doesn’t mean you automatically get the suite.”

 

“Wanna bet?”

 

Damen sighed. “I killed his brother.”

 

“No shit Sherlock.”

 

“I need to get out of here for a bit. Make sure Laurent’s okay.”

 

Nicaise nodded.

 

Damen slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys and left. He walked aimlessly around the city. He quit smoking years ago, only having started because he wanted to be like his older brother, but at times like this when he was stressed, he itched for a cigarette. He bottled this restlessness by walking faster. When he ended up at a park, he sat down on a bench.

 

At first he had been proud to go against Auguste, but after what had happened that day….He tried not to think of it often. 

 

_ Damen didn’t know how Theomedes found out where the base of Vere’s operations was, but he had done it. Kastor and him had been casing the joint all day. They saw people going in and out, in and out, but no one important enough to tie them to Vere. Then, finally, they caught sight of a tall long haired blonde. Auguste, Aleron’s eldest son. He walked in with one guard, without a care. They obviously thought they were safe here. It’d be easy to catch them off guard. _

 

_ Just to be sate, they kept watch on the place for a few more days. Each day there was only a handful of men inside, and two watching the warehouse door. Damen knew they could take them at anytime, but his father was waiting for word from his source. _

 

_ Finally, that day came. _

 

_ It was Kastor, Damen, Nik, Pallas, Makedon, and their father. Damen was pretty sure they could do it without the two older men, but they wanted to be present for when Vere was finally reduced to nothing. _

 

_ They didn’t even bother trying to be stealthy about it. The six of them piled into a big black SUV, and drove up to the warehouse. One of the guards at the door started to walk over to the SUV, hand going behind his back, to see what was up. Damen leaned out of his window, and shot him. The other guard turned, and tried to open the warehouse door. It was only opened a fraction before Kastor leaned out of his, and shot him too. _

 

_ The shooting alerted those inside and men started coming out. A lot of men. More than there had been on the days that Damen and Kastor had kept watch. Either Theomedes souce betrayed them, or something big was going down today that they didn’t know about. _

 

_ The other’s hopped out of the vehicle, Damen turning off the truck, ripping out the key, and joining them. _

 

_ “We should split up. Easier for us to take them out, harder for them to take us.” he said. _

 

_ Between then, and when he found Auguste was a blur.  The two of them hiding behind crates, shooting at one another. Auguste seemed to be guarding a door. His father probably behind it. There was glass, but it was a 2 way mirror. Damen couldn’t see into it to be sure Aleron was there. _

 

_ They both came around their crates and shot at the same time. Damen’s gun didn’t shoot. He was out of bullets. Auguste’s bullet hit Damen in the shoulder.  _

 

_ “Fuck.” he swore, dropping the gun, hand flying to his shoulder. He ducked back behind the box. _

 

_ “Go ahead and reload.” Auguste called out. “Or we could call a truce. If we talk this out, I’m sure our fathers could come up with an agreement.” _

 

_ “Truces are for the weak.” Damen said. He ripped the bottom of his shirt off and wrapped it around the wound wincing. He then reloaded. _

 

_ “Fine, but remember I tried to stop this.” _

 

_ They both came around again. This time Auguste shot once, threw the gun, and pulled a second one out of his holster. He was more prepared than Damen. They were definitely tipped off. Damen and the other men had come unprepared for this. It was supposed to have been easy, minimal backup needed. _

 

_ “Your father back there?” he called out. _

 

_ “You’ll never find out.” _

 

_ This time when they shot, Auguste fired a couple of seconds before Damen’s, but nothing happened. Damen should have been on the floor, bleeding out, but nothing came out of Auguste’s gun. Auguste’s eyes widened as he realized his gun had jammed, and instead of a bullet, a noise came out. Auguste flew back, blood spurting from his chest. _

 

_ The office door opened, and Damen prepared to shoot whoever it was, when a little boy ran out. _

 

_ “Auguste!!!” _

 

_ “Stop! Stop shooting!” Damen yelled out to whoever was in the surrounding area. _

 

_ The boy knelt next to Auguste. He slammed his tiny hands over the wound, trying to stop the blood flow, crying. _

 

_ The room became silent. Damen’s ears ringing. Damen watched as Auguste coughed, and blood trickled from his mouth. _

 

_ “Hold on brother. D-don’t….you can’t leave me now!” _

 

_ The boy was shaking, but managed to not let go. Managed to keep the pressure on Auguste’s wound. _

 

_ A pale man with blue eyes, and a dark brown beard came from the back, followed by another man with cold eyes. They surveyed the scene. _

 

_ The bearded man turned to the other. “Call an ambulance.” _

 

_ But everyone, except the boy, could see that it was too late. _

 

_ “My brother Aleron is dead. I’m in charge now.” He looked around the warehouse “Let’s go somewhere else to talk, and end this nonsensical bloodshed.” He turned to the other man who hadn’t even bothered to take out his cell phone. “Govart. Get Laurent out of here.” _

 

_ Laurent clung to his brother, screaming, as Govart pulled. Finally, he dislodged Laurent from his brother. Red stained the pale skin of the boy’s hands. Damen didn’t think it was possible they would ever get clean. _

 

_ “Nooo! Put me down!” Laurent yelled as Govart carried him out.  _

 

_ Damen would never forget the last scream of anguish as the door slammed shut behind them.  _


	7. Laurent Gets A Shiny New Gun

Damen eventually figured it was time for him to get up and go home. He wasn’t 100% ready to face Laurent. The man had every right to be mad at him, to hate him, but he couldn’t stand to see the hatred in Laurent’s eyes, or hear it in his voice. Damen really liked him, and was hoping to see where their relationship would go. Now, there was probably no chance of anything happening ever again.

He sighed, and stood up, twisting his body from side to side to crack his back. He began to walk home, keeping to the path along the park since it was quieter, when he saw a jewelry store. Damen went inside.

*********************************************

 

“Laurent, Nicaise, I have food.” Damen said, putting the take out bag on the table.

Nicaise ran out of the guest room, and Laurent followed him. He crossed his arms.

“I’m not going to forgive you because you brought me lunch.”

Damen tried hard not to roll his eyes. “I didn’t buy lunch for you to forgive me. I bought lunch because it’s lunch time. There’s no food here, and we still need to eat. Simple logic.”

Nicaise went over to the bag, pulling the containers out. “Awesome! Chinese!”

He went over to the cabinets, and pulled out some plates and utensils, placing them down on the table. Nicaise grabbed a spoon and quickly started serving himself, heaping amounts of each thing onto his place. Laurent watched Nicaise, then sat down next to him. “Don’t be a pig.”

“I’m a growing boy.”

“Well, your growth spurt hasn’t done you much good. You’re still short as hell.”

Nicaise elbowed him, then grabbed a plate, and started spooning much smaller portions on to it before handing it to Laurent. Damen waited until they were done before serving himself. He picked up his plate, and began to walk out of the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” Laurent asked.

“I figured you didn’t want to eat with me. You told me you didn’t want to see my ugly face earlier. I’m going to eat in the bedroom.”

“Don’t be a uncouth barbarian. That’s where you sleep, not eat. Sit down.” Laurent pointed to the seat opposite him with a fork. “Really, in the bedroom.” he mumbled, picking up a piece of broccoli chewing on it.

Damen watched them for a moment before sitting down. Laurent ate very carefully, delicately. His back straight, posture perfect, taking tiny bites. Nicaise slouched, elbow on the table, shoveling food into his mouth. Damen twirled some lo mein onto his fork.

Laurent paused. “What is that?” he asked looking at Damen’s wrist.

Damen looked down. “It’s a bracelet.”

“I know what it is, but why?”

“Well, someone stole my other one.” Damen said, gesturing to Laurent’s wrist.

“Yes, but they match.” he said, with a note of horror in his tone.

“We have to pretend to be unified. I know you hate me, but my men aren’t going to fight for me, for us, if we’re not united. If you act like you want nothing to do with me in front of my men they aren’t going to want to help you. Sure they’ll still want to take Vere down, but they’ll want to keep it afterwards. We need to look like we still like each other. I figured if we had matching bracelets it would show we’re unified. We’re working together as a team.”

“I should throw the fucking thing in the river.” 

“Or give it to me. I’ll pawn it. That’s real gold right?” Nicaise asked mouth full.

“Swallow your food Nicaise. It’s unseemly.”

Nicaise rolled his eyes.

Laurent sighed. “Fine. I can agree with you for now. I’ll behave appropriately in public, and so will you.” he glanced at Nicaise. “When this is over, and I have Vere back, then you can pawn it.”

Nicaise gave a triumphant ‘hah’.

They all ate quietly for a couple of minutes after that before Laurent opened his mouth again.

“So….you and Jokaste?”

Damen tensed. “It’s in the past.”

“She cheated on you with your brother? I could picture that. You’re too naive. Too trusting.”

“No. Kastor and I, we were both sleeping with her. We were both having fun, so we let it carry on. In the end, she chose my brother. She said he’s more ruthless than me.”

Laurent nodded. “Yeah. You don’t have it in you.”

“That’s why we both run things. I like to run the club, make money that way. I’m also more level-headed. Kastor he runs the drugs, shakes people up who don’t pay their money, but many times he acts before he thinks. I’m the voice of reason. We work well together, but level-headedness is not what Jokaste wanted.”

“But you caught feelings.”

Damen looked down at his plate. 

“It’s a weakness. Jokaste saw it in you. I saw it in you. Your men will see it in you too if they haven’t already. You’re too easy to play, it’s sad really.”

Damen’s hand tightened around his fork. “You know you have feelings too.” he said looking up.

“Oh? And who do I have feelings for? You?” he scoffed. 

“Yes me. You hate me. Hate is a feeling. You want revenge against your Uncle. That’s a feeling. You ran away to save Nicaise. You love him and want to protect him. Those are feelings too. And you’re scared of intimacy, and being close to people. Scared is a feeling.”

Laurent’s fork clanged as he threw it down on the plate. “I think I’m done here.” he said pushing his plate away. “I can hardly keep it down when the company makes me want to gag.” He pushed his chair out, the legs scraping loudly against the floor, and walked into the guest room slamming the door.

“Good one.” Nicaise said.

Damen sighed. “He makes it hard to stay calm.”

“He does that on purpose. He likes to rattle people.” He grabbed Laurent’s plate, pulled it in front of himself, and dug in. “But he likes you you know.”

Damen laughed. “No he doesn’t.”

NIcaise nodded. “I’ve known him for a few years now. If he hated you, he wouldn’t even talk to you.”

“He needs me.”

“Yes, he needs you, but you already promised to fight for him no matter what. He doesn’t have to talk or interact with you in private, but he did.”

“He said nothing nice.”

“It’s still something.”

“Whatever you say kid.”

Nicaise went to open his mouth then shut it, figuring Damen had had enough for the day. They finished their food in peace, and Nicaise brought his plate to the sink.

“You might not believe me, but he needs you. He can’t live the rest of his life alone, and I won’t be around forever. I need to start my own life. Just don’t….don’t give up on him yet, alright? For me.”

Damen stared at him before finally nodding. ‘Yeah sure.”

“Good. And I swear if you call me kid one more time, I’m going to maim you with a fork. A very sharp one, in your nether regions.” 

Damen shivered as he walked out. He had no doubt Nicaise would actually try and do that, and he might even succeed. 

Nicaise walked into the bedroom where Laurent was sitting back against the headboard. His one leg was pulled up to his chest, a hand resting on his knee. The other leg was laid flat out on the bed, and his brow was furrowed in concentration.

“You know, even you’re allowed to have feelings. Damen is a nice guy. If you like him-”

“I would never like my brother’s killer Nicaise.” Laurent snapped, unmoving.

Nicaise puts his hands up. “Alright. Alright.” He came to sit down on the edge of the bed. “You know,” he said after a pause. “I still want to go to school.”

Laurent finally looked at him. “Of course you’re still going to go to school. Vere should be back in my grasp in no time, and you’ll be able to go to school back home.”

Nicaise sucked on his lower lip, playing with the corner of the comforter. “Actually, I would still like to go to the school here. The one we looked at together.”

“Here? There was nothing truly special about that school. There are ones just like it back home.”

“I don’t want to go back there. There are too many memories. Too many people who know my history. I want a fresh start. Away from all the shitty things that happened there.”

“You want to leave me?”

“No. You’re the only good thing I have there. I’ll still come to visit. I just...I need to find myself, become my own person, and I can’t do that if I’m still getting caught up in the past.

Laurent nodded after a moment. “I understand. I’ll miss you you hellion, but I understand. I wish I had been able to do that, escape, after he...after Uncle…”

“I know.”

“At least let’s find a better school. Once I’m back in charge I’ll have money again. I can pay for you to go to a private school.”

“I prefer public. Rich kids….they’re even worse. They’re snooty, and they’ll always judge me. I don’t act like them, look like them, definitely don’t fucking talk like them. I’ll never fit in, and never stop having to try. Public school is better for me. Different people from different walks of life. Not as judgemental. The rules aren’t as strict. I just want time to be a teenager while I still can.”

“Alright. I’m sure Damen, Jokaste, or even Pallas will watch over you. They seem to like you, and I trust them not to do anything to you, or fuck you up more. If not I’ll get you an apartment. In a nice area, strict security, and you better answer your phone whenever I call you.”

Nicaise chuckled. “Yes, dad.”

He caught the pillow that Laurent threw at him, and laid down. “Read to me?”

Laurent nodded. He needed something to relax him, and take his mind off of things for now, and reading did just that. He picked up the book he was reading off of the bed side table. He continued to read long after Nicaise fell asleep.

******************************************************

The next day Laurent came out of the bedroom later than usual. He had finished reading the book the night before, and then had stayed up late thinking of battle strategies. By the time he had fallen asleep, the sun was already beginning to rise. Even still he only managed to grab a few hours of sleep. He probably had bags under his eyes, but what did he care? It wasn’t like he was trying to impress Damen anymore.

He found Damen and Nicaise at the breakfast table. Neither of them were eating, but Damen was drinking a cup of coffee, and Nicaise was playing a game, on what he assumed was Damen’s phone. 

“What’s this?” he asked, gesturing to the spread on the table. There was Boule de Pain, with little bowls of butter, strawberry Jam, and honey, and Pain au chocolat.

“DeVere. You’re French right? According to google this is normally what French people eat for breakfast.” he said, and then hurried to add, “I noticed you don’t eat much in the morning, so I figured you’d appreciate a light breakfast.”  
It was true. He couldn’t stomach much when he woke in the morning. It made him feel sick. Usually he just drank a cup of tea, or two depending on his morning, with a piece of toast. He pulled out a chair next to Nicaise, and sat down without saying anything. 

“Which do you prefer?” he asked, gesturing to the bowls.

“Butter with a bit of honey drizzled over it.”

Damen cut him a slice of the Boule de Pain, and prepared it for him. He also put a Pain au chocolat next to it. He placed the plate in front of Laurent, then got up and poured him a cup of tea. “I’m going for my morning jog. When I get back we can head to the club. Everyone wants to discuss strategy.” He turned to leave than paused. “Enjoy your breakfast Laurent.”

“He’s trying.” Nicaise said after Damen had left, not looking up from his phone.

“He doesn’t need to try anything. I’m not a prize he can win.”

“You know, after this war, I’m going to try and be happy. You should try that also.” he said getting up. “I’m going to go shower before we head to the club.”

“Who said you’re coming? You’re too young for war.”

“I hate him too. I want to be there for his downfall. I won’t let you take that from me.”

Laurent nodded. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

 

********************************************

They met at the Club and discussed their plans, for a long time. People were coming to start opening the club before they had a semblance of a decision. Everyone, in the end after much arguing and persuading, agreed with Laurent’s plan, except for Damen of course. Damen thought that he was being stupid and reckless.

“Listen.” Laurent finally said, index finger, and thumb rubbing his forehead. He had the beginnings of a headache about two hours ago, and now it was a full blown migraine. “In the end, it’s my Uncle, my gang we’re infiltrating and taking down. I think I know him better than anyone here. I know how he thinks, what he will probably do, and I know how he runs things. This is the best plan. Everyone else agrees. You can’t veto my decision because you’re the boss. Kastor is also the boss, and he agrees with me. Even Nik agrees with me, and he hates me.”

Nik nodded, arms crossed. “I do.”

Damen opened his mouth to argue, but Laurent cut him off.

“Let’s take a vote. Everyone in favor of my well thought out plan, raise their hands.”  
No one raised their hands except for Nicaise and Jokaste, but everyone else grunted in agreement.

“And all in favor of Damen’s not so good plan?”

No one made a sound. “There it’s decided.” He stood up. “Now I have a giant migraine, and I would like to go home and lay down.”

Damen sighed. “I still have some stuff here I want to get done. Pallas can drive you home.”

“It’s a nice night. Nicaise and I can walk. The fresh air will probably help my headache.”

Damen stood up, and handed Laurent his pistol barrel down. “At least take this. I ordered you a gun. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

“What about me?” Nicaise asked. 

 

“A knife. You can have a knife.” Laurent said.

“You probably had your first gun younger than me. I’m old enough.”

“Yes, but I knew how to shoot.”

“I know how to shoot.”

“Since when?”

“Lazar. I was having him teach me. Asshole didn’t want me to know how to defend myself, I made sure I knew how anyway.”

“Alright. One for him too Damen.”

“I’m not buying a child a gun.”

“He’s not a child. Get him one or I will.”

Damen rolled his eyes. He felt like that’s all he had been doing today. “Fine. I’ll see you at home later.”

Laurent stared at him. He was going to tell Damen that the suite wasn’t his home and never would be, but he decided to let it slide. He was done arguing for the night. “See you later.” he finally said, before tucking then gun into his pants, letting his shirt fall over it.

********************************************

In the morning, Damen had breakfast waiting for them again. This time it was a simple breakfast, yogurt with fresh fruit on top, like the food Damen had made for him when he was drugged.

He sat down and grabbed his spoon. “You don’t have to cook for us everyday.”

Damen shrugged. “If I’m making food for myself, it’s just polite to make some for everyone.”

He stood up, and Laurent noticed that Damen was in a pair of boxers. Pretty short boxers. Laurent watched him walk to the counter, eyes following the movement of his muscles as he moved, the spoon held before his lips.

Nicaise slapped his arm, the blackberry on top of the yogurt falling to the table.

Laurent snapped out of it. “What did you do that for!?”

“Stop staring at his legs and answer the question.”

“I was not staring” he blushed, giving himself away. “What were you saying?”

Smirking, Damen put a cup of tea in front of him. “After you shower, do you want to go to pick up the guns?”

“Yes. Nicaise you’ll have to stay here.”

“As long as you remember to bring me one back.”

After he showered, Laurent put on a pair of tight dark form fitting jeans, and a light purple button up shirt. He plopped next to Nicaise on the couch, as he waited for Damen.

“How good of a shot are you?”

“I’m pretty good. Lazar’s a good teacher.”

“You’ll have to show me before I give you the pistol. Damen probably has somewhere we can practice.”

Damen came out, keys in his hands. He had on a pair of loose light jeans, and a black shirt, almost half unbuttoned again.

“Do you just always ignore proper etiquette? There are buttons there for a reason.”

Damen smiled. “You know, I think you just have a fascination with my chest. You bring it up enough.” He said, flexing one of his arms, the movement causing one of his pecs to twitch.

Laurent’s eyes followed the arm, to his pec before he caught himself. “Please. Your whole shirt could be unbuttoned and I still wouldn’t be interested.”

“Whatever you say sweetheart.”

“Let’s go. Nicaise be good.”

“Always am.” 

*****************************************

They entered the shop, and a young green-eyed redhead was staring at a customer calmly, while the customer was yelling at him. The Redhead’s eye flicked to the door, when the bell rang, signaling new customers. He looked at Damen, nodded, rolled his eyes, and inclined his head to the guy who was still yelling.

“Listen sir, I’m not selling you a gun. Now, I have to help these other customers.”

The man started yelling again, and when the red head tried to come out from behind the counter, stepped in his way.

The redhead sighed. “Alright.” he reached under the counter and pulled out a rifle. “Now, sir. I’m going to tell you one last time that you’re not getting a gun from our shop, and I’ll ask you one last time to kindly get the fuck out.” He cocked the gun. “Understand?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

The man stopped his yelling, mumbled something under his breath, and quickly hurried out. As soon as he was gone, the man put the rifle on top of the counter just in case.

“Mr. Akielos. How can I help you today?”

“Hey Ancel. The pistol I ordered. Is it finished yet?”

“Not sure. Let me find out for you.” He walked over to the curtain, pushing it back a bit, to reveal the hallway beyond it. “Daddy! Mr. Akielos is here. Have you finished his pistol yet?” 

“One minute pet,” yelled a voice from the back.

Ancel leaned over the counter, hands underneath his chin looking at the both of them.

“He one of your new boys? Not as big as the other men.”

“No. He doesn’t work for me.”

“Ooo, so it’s one of those. No wonder you put in such a nice request.” He looked Laurent up and down slowly. “You’re going to love it.” the redhead purred. 

An older man with close cropped brown hair came out of the back carrying a box. “Mr. Akielos.” he looked at Laurent and paused. “Mr. Vere?”

“Berenger.” Laurent said. “You sell to both of us?”

Berenger shrugged. “Neither of you ever said I couldn’t.”

“No, I guess I didn’t.”

“Daddy makes the best guns. Of course he’s in demand.” Ancel said taking the box from him and putting it down on the glass countertop. “You want to see? I was begging him to let me keep this one for myself.” he said with a pout, and opened the box.

The pistol was beautiful. The handle was white ivory. It was more curved, and a bit longer than a regular pistol. It was Berenger’s trademark, and how you knew the gun was his. The cylinder, trigger, hammer, and lower half of the muzzle and ejector rod were gold. The rest of the gun was silver. The screws were also gold. All over the gun were flower and vine designs that you could see in the silver and gold if you looked closely. It was definitely unique, and must have cost a pretty penny.

“Isn’t it amazing?” he asked, sighing wistfully.

Laurent looked at it, then at Damen. “Trying to impress me?”

“Well, I…”Damen looked down embarrassed, and cupped the back of his neck with his hand. “I thought someone as beautiful as you needed a gun to match.”

“How romantic! Daddy how come you never say those things to me!?”

“Not in front of the customers pet.” Berenger blushed, then mumbled. “You know I find you beautiful.”

Laurent had been rendered speechless for a moment, caught off guard by the sincerity in Damen’s words. By the time Ancel, and Berenger had finished their quick conversation, he had snapped out of it.

“For all it’s fanciness, it still works as good as a real pistol?”

Berenger looked at Laurent like he was offended. “Of course! Would you like to take it out back and try it out?”

“No. I trust you. We’ve never had problems with your weapons before. Box it back up. We’re also going to need another pistol. Smallest you got, and plain. Along with ammunition, lots of it.” 

Berenger nodded and went about completing their order.

When they were finished Damen began to drive them home silently, it was when they were sitting at a light that something crossed his mind.

“You said Berenger makes all your guns?”

“Yes.”

“Everyones?”

“That’s what all our guns means.”

“All your staff. All your family members.”

“Yes. How hard is it to understand that? He makes good guns, so we reward him with a lot of business.”

“Well Auguste...the day he died, his pistol wasn’t Berenger’s.”

“Yes it was. He never went anywhere without his pistol. Said it was lucky. Even had a stupid name for it.”

“No. I mean he did have it, but it ran out of ammo. He had another gun with him. That one wasn’t Berenger’s.”

“It had to be. We don’t use any others.”

“Laurent. Listen. I remember that gun okay? Your brother was faster than me. I thought I was dead. I should have died. I remember looking at the gun, and knowing it was the last thing I was ever going to see, and I know it wasn’t Berenger’s.”

“If that’s true, then why are you here and he isn’?”

“It jammed. His gun jammed. It was a lucky fluke on my part.”

“Jammed.” Laurent said, and then said it again, this time in a whisper.

He had thought that everything had been planned and accounted for for the fight, but now he had new information. He walked into the house when they parked, and went into the guest room. Nicaise tried to call after him, but he closed the door on him. He pulled out his gun, and sat on the bed fingering it lightly, staring at it. It was gorgeous.

“Jammed.” he whispered again.

He had some more planning to do, and he had to do it fast. The war was in a few days, and it had to be perfect.


	8. Last Man Standing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks SilverBladeDraco for helping me out with editing on chapters 5-8. The next chapter will be the last chapter of the story, and the chapter after that will be the second gorgeous artwork by SilverBladeDraco. If you like the chapter, and their beautiful artwork comment below.

The night before, finally came and they were both working like normal. Damen because he wanted to get his books and paper in order, just in case something went wrong for him tomorrow. Laurent because he didn’t want to sit at home doing nothing. When he was doing nothing his mind would go through every possible situation and outcome of what could go wrong, and it would drive him crazy. He would never be able to relax, and tomorrow wouldn’t go as planned.

Laurent was setting a drink down on a table, when he caught sight of the couple standing at the table across from him. They weren’t standing on either ends of the table, but were right next to each other, the man’s head bent low to meet her height. She laughed at something he said, before he cupped her cheek kissing her. Laurent’s heart gave a weird tug. If something happened to him tomorrow, no one would think of him. No one would care, except maybe Nicaise, but even he would get over it soon enough. 

Sighing, Laurent walked over to the bar, put the empty tray on top of it, then untied his apron, leaving it there. He walked to Damen’s office, and entered without knocking. Damen glanced up at him. 

“Something wrong?”

Laurent didn’t say anything but stalked over to the chair. He grabbed the back of the chair and spun him around.

“What are you doing?” Damen asked, as Laurent dropped to his knees.

He put his hands on both of Damen’s knees and pushed them apart, sliding his hands from his knees, up his thighs, and to his zipper.

“What does it look like?” Laurent unbuttoned his pants, sliding the zipper down.

“Okay. Let me rephrase that. Why?”

“Does it matter?” he reached in to pull Damen’s cock out of his boxers. Even flaccid Damen was huge.

Damen jolted at the coldness of Laurent’s hand.

“I thought you said you didn’t like me?”

Laurent laughed. “I don’t. You don’t need to like someone to suck them off.”

“Thought you didn’t do that either.”

“Has anyone ever told you you talk too much?” 

He gripped Damen’s dick in his hand, and leaned in. He swirled his tongue around the tip, running it up to the slit to dip it in. He then took the head into his mouth, sucking like he would a lollipop. Damen’s hand twitched, and he began to reach for Laurent’s head, as his cock started to harden.

“Don’t touch me.” Laurent said, before taking Damen even further into his mouth. 

Soon, the whole of Damen’s flaccid cock was in as he sucked, taking more and more in. 

Damen moaned. This was a new experience for him. Usually, he was already hard before getting a blowjob. No one had ever done this for him before, and he liked the sight of Laurent’s mouth, with all of him inside, his nose brushing against Damen’s crotch. 

As he began to harder, Laurent had to move his head back a bit, to accommodate his growing length. Laurent wasn’t able to take all of him in his mouth at once, but Damen didn’t care. Seeing Laurent bobbing between his legs, mouth stretched wide, eyes slightly narrowed in concentration, was the best thing he could ask for. Suddenly, Laurent pulled away with a ‘pop’, a bit of saliva stretching between them. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand then stood up. Looking at Damen, he dropped his shorts, nothing underneath, and stepped out of them. 

“Don’t touch still applies.” He said, as he rested his hands on Damen’s shoulders and swung onto his lap.

Laurent grabbed Damen’s dick, and looking behind himself, lined himself up.

“Wait, I have lube in my dessssssk.” He hissed, as Laurent began to slide down his length. 

Laurent didn’t breath until Damen was fully seated inside of him.

“Laurent? Are you okay?”

Laurent shook his head, eyes closed. “Just need a minute.”

Damen reached out, one hand coming to his lower back to rub it. Laurent tensed.

“Don’t touch me. Give me a moment.”

Damen pulled his hand away, Laurent’s fingers digging into his shoulders. 

One minute. Two minutes. Finally, Laurent rocked his hips once, twice, and then on the third, a tiny moan escaped. 

Feeling more comfortable, he began rocking his hips slowly, hands moving from Damen’s shoulders, to between his shoulder blades, crossing his wrists over one another. He gave a small thrust of his hips upwards, to see how Laurent would react. Laurent gasped, and Damen took that as an okay to do it again.

“Put your hands on my hips.” he said.

Damen’s hand’s dripped under his shirt, so skin was touching skin, and he squeezed. Laurent’s sides fit perfectly in his palms. 

He shivered, and rested his forehead against Damen’s, noses brushing. “Help me.” he whispered, Damen’s lip tingling from Laurent’s breath.

Damen began to lift Laurent up and down, as Laurent used the leverage from his legs around the chair.

“Fuck. I hate the way you feel so good. How you touch me. Like I matter.”

Damen looked at him, Laurent’s eyes were closed, face contorted in pleasure.

“You do.” Damen whispered.

Laurent’s eyes popped open in surprise. He met Damen’s, both of them staring at one another. “Shit. You’re the absolute worst.” he said, before slamming their lips together. 

The kiss started out hungry, tongues tasting, ravishing each other’s mouth, as they matched the pace of their fucking. Slowly, it began to calm. Damen’s tongue making love to Laurent’s mouth, as their hips began to slow, both becoming unhinged, both getting close to the edge. 

Damen reached down between the two of them and grabbed Laurent in his hand, giving a slight tug. Laurent bit down on Damen’s lip half in surprise, and half to muffle his scream as he came. Damen finished also, as Laurent squeezed him, body tense, as he rode out his orgasm.

Laurent laid his head on Damen’s shoulder, in the crook of his neck. Damen’s thumb rubbed circles on Lauren’t hipbone as he let Laurent relax against him. Laurent’s lips brushed his neck as he pulled away, so lightly, Damen wasn’t sure if he really felt them or not. He got up, and bent down to grab his shorts. He put them on quietly. Damen watched him, not wanting to speak either, afraid he’d say something wrong. He tucked himself back into his pants.

“I’m going back to the suite.”

Damen nodded. “Alright.” He swirled his chair back around to face the desk.

Laurent walked over to the door, and opened it. He looked back at Damen. “Are you coming?”

He quirked his eyebrow at Laurent, confused for a moment. “I thought I already did?”

Laurent looked at him like he was the stupidest person on the planet. “To the suite you giant oaf.”

“Oh!” Damen blushed, cheeks red. “Y-yeah,” he nodded, “I could do that.” he shot up out of the chair, and Laurent rolled his eyes watching him. Damen handed him the keys to his car. “I’m going to let Nik know I’m leaving.”

Laurent took them and went to the car.

When they arrived at the apartment, Laurent took a quick shower. When he came out, towel in his hand as he dried his hair, he looked at Damen on the bed. Damen was sitting at the edge of the bed, still in his work clothes. “Do you normally sleep like that?”

“No, I wasn’t sure if…”

“Damen. Just get into the bed please. I’m too tired for any of this right now.”

Damen got up, and stripped down to his boxers.

“This okay?”

“What did I just say?” Laurent said, climbing under the covers. Damen got in, making sure to leave plenty of space between them. Laurent rolled onto his side, back to him. “Are you always this incompetent or are you going to hold me?”

He shifted closer to Laurent, and grabbed his hip, pulling him closer. When they were flush together, Laurent’s ass nestled in his crotch, Damen wrapped his arm around him, getting comfortable. He tensed at first, but after a few minutes loosened up, and relaxed into Damen’s arms. He closed his eyes. He felt safe now, but tomorrow would be another story. 

“Good night.” Damen whispered, almost afraid that if he said anything too loudly, Laurent would realize what he was doing and leave.

Laurent didn’t say anything, but fell asleep soon after. 

The next morning Damen woke up and Laurent wasn’t next to him. He hadn’t felt him move in the middle of the night, and that was obviously his plan. When he came out into the kitchen, Laurent was already dressed. He was leaning against the counter, mug of tea in his hand, watching Nicaise eat. His hair was pulled back, and done in a simple braid. He was wearing a simple maroon suit. The jacket, and pants were form fitting. The jacket was left open to show off a maroon vest, that had gold buttons going down the middle of it. Underneath that was a black shirt. He had a gold dangly starburst pin, pinned to the lapel of his jacket, and the gold bracelet could be seen peeking out from the cuff. Laurent glanced over at him when he walked in.

“Someone finally deemed it time to wake up. One would think on such an important day, you wouldn’t oversleep.”

Damen glanced at the clock. “It’s still early.”

“I would like to meet with everyone and go over the plan one more time.” He paused, and then nodded at the cup on the counter next to him. “That’s for you.”

Damen walked over, and instead of grabbing the cup, he put a hand on Laurent’s hips, turning Laurent toward him. “Are we going to talk about last night?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Nothing to talk about?” He squeezed Laurent’s hip, taking a step closer to him. “We made love last night. You slept in my room.”

Laurent rolled his eyes. “We did not make love, Damianos. Don’t be ridiculous. We fucked. We fucked because today is an important, and stressful day. You could die. I could die. We could both die. I figured why not give myself something good? That’s all it was. Something good. And if we both make it out alive, that’s all it’s going to continue to be. A one time thing.” He picked the mug up off the counter, and pushed it into Damen’s hands. “Don’t assume otherwise, and don’t touch me without permission again.”

Laurent stepped away, Damen’s hand falling from his hip. “Now drink that, and get dressed. We have more important things to discuss. Also, Nicaise, stop eavesdropping and finish your meal. You both need to get your priorities in check. I’m going to make a phone call. Oh, and Damen wear a maroon shirt, preferably with a black suit. We should look unified.” he said before leaving the kitchen. 

Damen sighed, and took a sip of the coffee. “What are you looking at?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at Nicaise.

“That’s progress. Laurent has never sought out any one for sex before. Never.” he said, repeating himself for more stress. 

“Apparently he doesn’t think so.” 

*************************************

They all met at the club.

“I called Jord again this morning. The plan is still on. He will meet you, and let you in. The guards stationed outside will be loyal to me. Other than those three, none of the men in the building will be mine. They will all be my Uncle’s. Kill whoever you want. If any of them surrender, keep them. Don’t let them leave. I want to talk to them myself later. But remember my Uncle is mine. As soon as you leave, I’m going to call him. Tell him I’m ready to give him, and do whatever he wants. I’ll have him meet me alone at Marlas. He probably won’t honor that and will come with his guard dog, but I’ve handled them both once I can do it again. As soon as everything is taken care of I’ll come to the headquarters, which hopefully will be under your control already.”

“I still don’t like that I can’t go with you.” Damen said.

“I’m asking Uncle to come alone. If I’m not alone, it’ll look suspicious. Especially if the person who is with me is you. Plus, you and Kastor are head of Akielos. You need to lead your men. You need to be there when you take over the headquarters.”

Damen opened his mouth, but Laurent cut him off.

“We’ve already had this argument. Already discussed this in detail. It’s too late to change the plan. Just do what we’ve all agreed on.” he turned to Nik. “Nikandros. Keep him in check. I don’t like you, but I trust you to do your job.”

Nik nodded. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“Good. Now, let’s get moving.” 

************************************

Damen, Kastor, Nik, Pallas, and a couple of other men joined them in the SUV. Even Makedon, who had long since retired, when Theomedes did, came. He’d never pass up an opportunity to kill some members of Vere. Laurent and Nicaise got in a much smaller car, by themselves. Jokaste stayed back at the club, to man the phone, in case someone called.

A brown haired man with facial hair was waiting for them at the meeting spot. Damen climbed out of the car looking him over. “You must be Jord.” 

Jord nodded, sizing Damen up. “And you must be Damianos.”

“Damen.” he replied, and turned to where Kastor, and Nik were climbing out of the car. “This is my brother Kastor, and my first in command Nik. They both know all the details of the plan. If you have any questions please ask one of them.”

Jord furrowed his brows. “And why would I not ask you? Laurent said you were heading this mission.”

“Because I won’t be here.”

“Where are you going?”

Damen turned to Nik. “Nik. Keys please.” he held his hand out.  
“Damen. Laurent said not to do anything stupid.”

“He’s the one being stupid. I’m going to ask one more time Nik, but after that it won’t be a question. Keys.”

Nik met his eyes staring at him. Finally he sighed, and dropped the keys into Damen’s hands. “If he doesn’t kill you, I might later. Depends on how this all goes down.”

Damen shrugged. “You do what you must.” he looked at all of his men. “Good luck.” Damen got back into the SUV, and drove off towards Marlas.

From the moment Laurent got there, he was assaulted by memories. Spots outside where he and his brother used to play tag with some of his father’s men. Areas where he used to sit and read. When he got to the main room, he paused. He could still see his brother lying there in the middle of the floor. He walked over to the spot, almost afraid that he’d see red stains on the ground from all of the blood. Nothing was there. He walked into the back room, and ran his fingers along the top of the chair behind the desk. He was sitting here, next to his Uncle, drawing when shots started to ring out in the main room. He ran over to the window, and had put his hand against the glass watching the battle that went on. His Uncle didn’t stop him. Didn’t tell him he was too young to watch such violence. It was here that he saw Auguste get shot. He pulled the chair out and sat down. He took out his phone, bringing up a mindless game as he waited, trying to take his mind off of the memories. 

He put the phone down, and looked up when he heard the knob turning. He braced himself for his Uncle, but that wasn’t who walked through the door.

He sighed, only a little surprised. “Damen. We discussed this many times. What are you doing here?”

“They can handle themselves. You don’t have to do this alone.”

“I’m not alone.”

“Let me be here for you.”

“I don’t want you here Damen. You’re messing up the plan. Get back to Vere.”

“You’re not the boss of me Laurent. I’m staying.” He went to the wall and leaned against it. “You’ll hardly notice I’m here.”

“You’re not hard to miss.”

Damen crossed his arms. “Still not leaving.”

“I might let him kill you before he dies.”

“That’s your choice to make, as it’s mine to stay.”

“Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.”

They stayed there in silence, until twenty minutes later the door opened again, and Laurent’s uncle came walking through. He closed the door behind him. Laurent waited a moment, but no one followed him in.

“Uncle, you came alone.”

“I keep my promises. Unlike some people.” he said looking at Laurent, than at Damen against the wall. “I thought we agreed to not have any guards.”

“He wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“Ah. See, that’s where we differ nephew. You need to know how to control your dogs. I thought you, out of anyone, would have learned that lesson.”

Damen’s arm twitched, and Laurent looked at him then shook his head. “I don’t need to have mindless puppets to have faithful men following me.” 

“No, you just need to spread your legs for them.”

Laurent took a deep breath. “That is not what I called you here to discuss.”

“And what did you want to talk about?”

“You giving me back what’s mine.”

“I can’t do that nephew.”

“It’s mine by right.”

“It’s not a kingship. It doesn't have to be run by heirs. It just needs to be kept in the family, and no one wants you as their leader. They think you’re irresponsible. After all, you tried to kill Govart. You tried to kill me. Then you ran away, and are working with the enemy. Doesn’t look good on you. They’ve chosen me.”

“Then I’m afraid you leave me no choice Uncle.” Laurent said, pulling his gun out, and placing it on the table.

His Uncle laughed. “Come on Laurent. We both know you’re not going to kill me. You have perfect aim. If you wanted me dead you would have taken the chance earlier when you threw the knife.”

“I’ve changed since then.”

“Maybe so, but you still think too much before you act.” his Uncle said pulling out his own gun. “Real men don’t talk, they just do what needs to be done.” he said pulling the trigger. The chamber clicked but nothing came out. He pulled the trigger again, then one more time. Each time the same result. 

“What the-.”

“The thing is Uncle, I’ve changed, but you haven’t. I recently came to learn that Auguste’s gun was sabotaged. I know it was by you. So I have the favor returned.”

“Impossible. None of my men would do such a thing.”

“Oh, but one would. We both have something in common: we were taken advantage of by you. You thought I didn’t know about him. You thought I didn’t know the real reason for those business trips you used to take. You weren’t always visiting your dear friend Guion for chats.”

“Aimeric. He wouldn’t betray me.”

“No. At first he wouldn’t have. He was very loyal to you. It took a lot of work and convincing, but he’s in a real healthy loving relationship with Jord. I didn’t want to trust him at first. After all, you have a way of corrupting people, and getting them to stay loyal to you, but Jord said to give him a chance. I put everything I had into Jord being right. I’m glad he was. Now,” Laurent said picking up his gun, looking at it. “I suggest you start begging.”

His Uncle laughed. “You don’t have it in you my sweet nephew.”

Laurent cocked his gun, and quirked his eyebrow. “Are you completely sure about that?” Laurent aimed the gun down, and shot him in the knee, blowing it out.

His Uncle cried out, and fell to the ground. “Please Nephew. Surely you wouldn’t kill the only family you have left?”

“I don’t forgive you for what you did. I can never do that, but….I have come to peace with it. Your life is not mine to take.”

His Uncle laughed. “I knew you-”

“It is someone else’s though.”

The door opened, and his Uncle turned his head to see who was entering the room. Nicaise walked in, gun in his hand.

His eyes widened, a bit in fear now that a wild card was thrown in. “Nicaise. Think of how good I was to you. I gave you everything that you wanted, and more. I can do it again. No strings attached.”

“It’s too late for that. You already went back on your word once. I can’t trust you now.” He walked over, and grabbed his hair, tilting his head back. 

“You don’t have it in you kid.”

Nicaise laughed. “Don’t I? I was groomed by you.”

He looked at Laurent. “Laurent. He hasn’t killed anyone yet. Don’t take his innocence away from him. We can still discuss this.”

“I think you already did that Uncle. I’m giving him the choice you never gave him.”

Nicaise pulled his hair again. “Don’t look at him. Don’t talk to him. I want my face to be the last thing you ever see. My voice to be the last thing you ever hear.” 

Damen watched the older DeVere closely ever since he walked in. Hadn’t taken his eyes off of him, since Nicaise walked over. That’s the only reason he saw it. He saw his hand, slide to his pant leg, and into his sock. Saw the knife being pulled out. He burst forward at the last moment, and pushed Nicaise out of the way. The knife meant for Nicaise, stabbed into his side. 

“Damen!” Laurent shot up.

Damen winced, and smacked him across the face, hard, sending him to the ground. As Laurent’s Uncle was trying to push himself up from the ground, Nicaise snapped out of it. He stepped over him, and shot him through the skull, the bang of the gun covering up the sound of Damen hitting the floor.

Laurent ran over, hand going to the knife. 

“D-don’t pull it out.” Damen said.

“I...I know.” Laurent said, blood starting to soak through the shirt, and jacket, even with the knife in the wound. He pressed his hand to the wound, trying to stop the blood. “Not again. Don’t die on me Damen. I can’t do this. Not again.” 

****************************************

Damen woke up , and immediately closed his eyes again. It was so bright. He tried again. He managed to keep them open this time, but flinched against the light. Eventually, he looked around the room, the white room. Over to his right there was a heart monitor and an IV. He followed the cord of the IV to his arm. Hospital. He was in a hospital. He looked to his right, and Laurent was there. He had a chair pulled over to his bed. He was slumped over, face buried in Damen’s bed, asleep. He reached his hand, and placed it on Laurent’s head, running his fingers through his hair. Laurent made a sound, and sat up slowly. He yawned and looked at Damen.

“You’re awake.”

“I’m in the hospital.”

“You were stabbed.”

“I was stabbed...and you’re here?”

“You got stabbed protecting Nicaise.”

Damen nodded, his head starting to clear. “He’s alright.”

“Yes. He’s in the cafeteria trying to find some food.”

“And is Vere yours again?”

Laurent nodded. “Yes. They had no problem taking it back. They were caught fully by surprise, and without my Uncle there to lead them...it was quite easy, according to Jord that is.”

“Vere’s yours, and you’re still here. With me.”

“Don’t think anything of it. I’m here because I owe you for saving Nicaise. That’s all.”

“Alright.” Damen said, a smile still spreading across his face.

Laurent stared at him. “Do you need anything?”

“Water.”

He nodded and got up. Damen noted that he was still in his suit. A suit that was covered in blood.

“How long have I been here?” 

“A little over 48 hours. The knife punctured your kidney. You had to have surgery. They kept you sedated for a while just in case. You woke up for a bit, were in pain, so they gave you pain killers and knocked you out again.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“You were pretty out of it.” He handed Damen the cup of water, then sat back down.

Damen tried to sit up a bit, wincing. Laurent quickly shot out of his seat again. “Not too quickly. You’ll irritate the stitches.” He put a hand behind Damen’s back, and helped him sit up slowly.

“Thank you.” he said looking Laurent over. Over 48 hours, and he was still here. In the same clothes. Laurent hadn’t left him alone. He took a sip of the water. He knew better than to say anything.

The door slammed open, and Nicaise came storming in. “All of their food is disgusting!” he declared, and looked over at the bed. “Oh. You’re awake.”

“Yes. You’re not getting my suite yet.”

He threw a candy bar on Damen’s chest. “Here. I figured you might be hungry, and the food here’s deplorable.”

Damen smiled picking up the candy bar. He knew that was as close to a thank you he was going to get from Nicaise. “Deplorable. Laurent must be rubbing off on you.”

He rolled his eyes, and sat down in the chair against the wall. 

Laurent got up again. “I’ll go tell the nurse you’re awake.”

“After you do that go home. Take a shower and a nap. I’m sure you’re scaring everyone, walking the halls with blood on you.”

Laurent looked down at himself, like he had forgotten he was wearing a suit with Damen’s dried blood over it.

“Nik will be here soon.” he said before leaving.

Nicaise took a chip out of the bag, and bit into it waiting until Laurent left. “You really scared him. I’ve never seen Laurent like that before. I think you gave him a flashback or some shit.”

Damen looked at him. “And how are you feeling?”

“Me? Fine.”

“You just killed someone.”

“It’s not like he didn’t deserve it. After what he did to Laurent, to me, to others.”

“Yes, but….you killed someone. He isn’t coming back Nicaise. Are you okay with that?”

Nicaise’s hand tightened around the bag, the bag crinkling in his grasp. “Yes.”

“Are you sure? It’s not easy to forget your first kill. Or forgive it. Laurent should have never let you do it.”

“I asked him to. I wanted to.” Nicaise said, looking away into the bag of chips. He pulled out a big one, shoving it into his mouth. 

Laurent went home, undressed, and fell onto the bed in his underwear. For the first time in years he had no worries. His Uncle was dead. Vere was his again. Nicaise was safe, and Damen would recover. He passed out right away. When he awoke, he hopped in the shower, and stood under the water for a long time, thinking about what to do next. After he got out he threw open Damen’s closet. He found a suitcase. Going through the house, he put all of his and Nicaise’s stuff inside it. He threw it into the trunk of the car, that Jord had had dropped off for him.He went back to the hospital.  
“I talked to the Doctor.” he said, walking back into Damen’s room. “He said if your recovery goes well, and there are no complications you’ll only need to stay for about 3 or 4 more days. But it’ll take 3 or more weeks after that to recover, so don’t push yourself.”

“Three more days in the hospital. Kill me.”

“Sorry, your death what you’re here to prevent.” he turned to look at Nicaise. “Come on. Let’s go get you some actual food.”

“Finally!”

Laurent handed him the car keys. “Start the car. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Do you think that’s smart?” Damen asked, after Nicaise walked out.

“He won’t leave. He has no money for food.” He stared at Damen then took a step towards him. “Thank you.” he finally spit out. “For helping me get Vere back. Now, we’re even.”

“I would have helped you no matter what.”

“You’re too nice for your own good. You can’t just risk your life for a pretty face.”

“Beautiful. A beautiful face.”

Laurent rolled his eyes, a blush forming across his cheeks. He leaned down, and gave Damen a kiss. Damen cupped the back of his head, and moved his lips against Laurent’s. When Laurent opened his mouth for him, he slid his tongue in. Damen placed one hand on the mattress, trying to push himself up, to get a better angle. He hissed in pain, his stitches stretching. Laurent pulled away.

“Don’t be stupid. Try to think with your actual brain from now on.”

His eyes raked over Damen one more time before walking out. He didn’t come back the next day, or the day after that. When it came time for Damen to be released Nik was the one who picked him up. He went back to the house, and there was no trace of Nicaise or Laurent. It was like they had never been there at all. 

**********************************************

Nik managed to keep Damen in the house for two days after he got back home, and then Damen couldn’t handle it anymore. He was starting to go crazy. He needed to go out. He needed to find Laurent. After much arguing with Nik, they came to an agreement. Nik would drive Damen over to see him. 

“I’ll be sitting out here waiting for you. Don’t do anything to put you back in the hospital.”

Damen got out of the car, and walked to the entrance. There were two guards watching the door. Or they were supposed to be watching. A shaggy brown haired guard had another pushed up against it, and they were making out. 

Damen cleared his throat, and the shaggy haired man broke the kiss, pulled out his gun, and turned with it pointing at Damen’s head, all in a couple of seconds. Damen quirked his eye at the man leaning against the door.

“Pallas. Did you switch over to Vere?”

“Damen...boss...N-no. This uh...this is Lazar...I was just uh...visiting?” he said, adjusting his pants.

“Visiting. Right. And isn’t Lazar supposed to be working? Guarding this door.”

“I am. From this side, you’re the one with the gun pointed at his face.”

Damen sighed. “Just let me in. I need to talk to Laurent.”

Pallas moved away from the door.

“The boss didn’t say anything about you visiting. He’s not going to be happy about you dropping over unannounced.”

“He’s never happy.”

Lazar laughed and slapped Damen on the back. “Touche.” he put the gun back in his holster and opened the door.

“Pallas. When I come back out, you better be gone. Leave Lazar to do his job.”

“Yes boss.” Pallas mumbled, looking down ashamed. 

*******************************************

Damen realized after the walked in, that he should have asked Lazar which office was Laurent’s. Luckily, he saw Jord standing in front of a door, a serious frown across his face.

“This Laurent’s office?” Damen asked, stopping in front of him.

Jord looked him over. “Yes.”

“Is he in?”

“Yes.”

Damen sighed. This was getting nowhere fast. “Can I see him?” 

“You don’t have an appointment. He’s not going to be happy about that.”

“So people keep telling me.”

Jord shrugged. “Doesn’t affect me if he rips you a new one.” He knocked on the door, and a voice called out from the inside to enter. Jord opened the door. “Go ahead.”

He walked in. Laurent had his hair pulled up. He was in a white jacket, with black cheetah print on it, and a black button up underneath. 

“I know I didn’t give any notice but-” he began as soon as he stepped in.

Laurent looked up from the paper he was holding.

“Oh Damen. Good. I wanted to talk with you.” he put the paper down, and gestured to the chair in front of the desk.

Damen sat, and looked around the office. “This is…”

“Gaudy? Repulsive? Barf worthy? I know. Once the temporary office is set up, this one will be gutted and redone. So I guess we’ll start with you first. Why are you here?”

“You didn’t come back to the hospital.”

“Of course not. I have a lot of work to do here, and the doctor said you would recover. There was no need.”

“You didn’t even call.”

“Again. I didn’t see the need. So, if that business is done with, I need to speak with you about Nicaise.”

“Nicaise?” Damen repeated, confused at the quick change in subject.  
“Yes. He doesn’t want to stay here. He still wants to go to school in Ios. Do you know a good building I can get him an apartment in? 

“He doesn’t need an apartment. He’s welcome to live with me as long as he wants. I can get him a key made.”

“Alright. That would be the best situation. At least I know where he is, and who he’s with. I’ll pay you monthly rent and food costs of course.”

“Don’t worry about it. I like the kid. He deserves a good shot at life, and I can give it to him. It’s not like I need the money anyway.” he paused. “Plus, having you around is payment enough.”

Laurent quirked his eyebrow. “And why would I be around?”

“To visit Nicaise of coure, and well….” Damen waved his hand between the two of them.

Laurent sighed, and leaned back in the chair. “You’re really going to make me talk about it. Make me spell it out for you.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t feel anything. That there’s nothing here.”

“There is nothing here. Nothing between us. I took advantage. I knew you wanted me. I gave you what you wanted so that I could take what I wanted.”

“Yes, that was the first time. The second time you already had my help.”

“The second time I used you to get my mind off the upcoming situation. I needed to destress, calm down, and get my head back on straight. You were the best means to that end.”

“That night was….Laurent we made love.”

“No, we fucked. There’s a difference. Let me just make it very very clear for you. In no world would I ever be with you. You were a means to an end, and I got my end. We’re done. There is and never will be anything more. Understood?”

Damen started at him. “Laurent-”

“Now, was there anything else?”

Damen shook his head dumbly, not sure what else to say.

“Good. Then I think you should leave. I’ll have Nicaise get in contact with you.”

“No. I want you to listen. There’s no way you don’t have feelings for me.” he said, finally getting his thoughts back.

Laurent got up, and walked around the desk to the door.

“Damianos. I despise you. I hate looking at your face, and hearing your voice. It physically pains me to be in your presence longer than necessary.” he opened the door. “Jord, see Damianos out, and don’t let him back in unless he calls first.”

Damen got up from the chair and walked out. Laurent did not even look at him once.


	9. I'll Be There Forever and A Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is the last chapter (was going to go with a different name but also decided to end with a Bon Jovi title since that's been -almost- my whole theme. Hope you enjoyed the ride. I know I did. It was nice to be able to see I could compete a Big Bang fic. Let me know what you think below.
> 
> Also thank you for Silverbladedraco for editing the last few chapters, and your wonderful, beautiful art. (You really bought the silly suits I put Laurent in, too life. Please check out their artwork in the first, and last chapter of this story!
> 
> Also all French translations are in the endnotes! (Especially because Laurent doesn't correctly translate them all for Damen).

In the following months, Laurent had seen Damen a total of one time, and that was to move Nicaise in. Nicaise packed up a couple of suitcases, Laurent threw them in the trunk of his car, and drove Nicaise down. Laurent stayed in the car, on his phone, as Damen came out to help Nicaise carry in his luggage. Laurent didn’t look at him once, and Damen didn’t try to say anything to him. After the bags were in, Nicaise came back out, and he finally got out of the car. He pat Nicaise on the head, told him to be good and call if he needed anything, then left. 

Throughout the next couple of months, he talked to Nicaise on the phone almost nightly. They hadn’t met up yet, Laurent thinking he needed some time on his own first. Him and Damen never crossed paths, nor had any need to, and that was alright with him. Nicaise seemed to think otherwise. Always trying to invite him over to the suite, or get Laurent to say hello on the phone. 

He had expected it to be the same as before. After all, both groups had gone back to normal. They respected the borders that were agreed upon while his Uncle was still running Vere. No one from either side was causing trouble. That’s why he was surprised when there was a knock on his door, and Pallas entered, Lazar trailing after him like a puppy.

“Pallas. Good to see you. What can I do for you?”

“Damen would like to have a meeting with you tonight.”

“And he didn’t deem it important enough to ask me in person?”

“He wasn’t sure if you would answer him, or see him.”

“Of course I would. We’re both running a business, and I’m a businessman after all.”

“If it’s alright with you, he would like to send a car to pick you up around four tonight. He would like to re discuss the peace treaty with you.”

“I assume someone will take me back afterwards?”

“Of course.”

“It’s a bit of a short notice. Make it five.”

“I’ll let the boss know.”

“Is that all?”

Lazar poked his head around Pallas. “I was wondering. Can I get the rest of the day off, bossman?”

“Mr. DeVere.”

“Yeah, yeah. So can I?”

He looked at Pallas, then back to Lazar. “Fine, but this isn’t going to become a habit.”

“Thanks!” Lazar grabbed Pallas’ hand, and pulling him out of the room. 

Laurent went home around three to shower and change. He put his still damp hair in a braid, tying it up in a bun. He wore black slacks and shoes. His jacket was black, with a design of grey and white butterflies adorning it. A white shirt underneath. Though he was sure he wouldn’t need it, he put his pistol under the jacket just in case. He then went back to the office to wait. Around 4:50, a car pulled up, and he got inside. 

The ride wasn’t too long. They ended up in Chasteigne, which was a town in Vere’s territory. As he got out of the car, Laurent realized they were at one of his favorite French restaurants. Upon walking inside he found the place to be empty. No customers to be seen, even though it was just after six, prime dinner time. Then he saw Damen in a corner table. He walked over. 

The table had a red tablecloth over it, and in the middle was a vase full of white roses. A couple of candles were on the table to give it a romantic feel. Damen, for once, was dressed up. He had on a light beige suit jacket. It was divided into a checkered pattern with darker beige lines. A dark brown tie sat upon a white shirt, and the beige pants matched it. A gold watch sat on one wrist, the gold bracelet on the other. He had attempted to tame his curls with some gel, though a few were still running loose. 

Damen got up, and came around the table to pull Laurent’s chair out for him.

“I feel like I’ve been tricked. I thought we were supposed to go over our treaty.”

Damen looked at him sheepishly. “I don’t have anything to change, or any concerns over it. If you do though, we can still talk about that, but I just wanted to have dinner with you. It seemed like the best way to get you here.”

“I don’t like being deceived.”

“I’m sorry, but I really didn't think I’d get you here any other way. Can we just….can we just have dinner? Surely one dinner wouldn’t hurt? And if it really is torture for you, and if you still want nothing to do with me, I swear this will really be the last time. I’ll leave you alone after this, for good.”

Laurent stared at the chair for a good minute. “Fine.” he finally said and sat down. He pulled his chair in and picked up the napkin, laying it across his lap. 

Damen sat down, and waved his hand, a waitress coming over.

“What can I get for you?” she asked. “A bottle of wine perhaps?”

Laurent looked at Damen, and he looked back at him sheepishly, again.

“I actually don’t know any of this wine, or any of this food to be honest. I figured, I showed you food from my country, now you could show me yours?”

“You’re lucky this is one of my favorite restaurants, and I know what is good here.”

“I know.”

“Excuse me?”

Damen blushed. “Nicaise told me.”

Laurent sighed. “Of course he did.” He then turned towards the waitress and ordered wine and food for them, not even looking at the menu once. 

“So, how is he really?” Laurent asked after the waitress walked away. “He tells me he’s behaving on the phone, but… he’s not the most trustworthy person with his word.”

Damen laughed. “He’s definitely a handful, but he’s good. He seems to be enjoying school. He comes home and does his homework. Studies hard. He’s really trying. He also seems to have made a couple of friends. He’s taken up skateboarding though.”

“Skateboarding?” Laurent said, wrinkling his nose.

Damen nodded. “And his clothing style matches. He also shaved a side of his head. It seems when he said he wanted to start completely anew, he meant it.”

“He doesn’t do anything by halves.”

“I also gave him some chores around the house. He doesn’t complain as much as he used to. Jokaste spoils him though, and Pallas continues to teach him to wrestle. He’s starting to put on some muscle.”

“I won’t even recognize him I suppose.”

The waitress came back and filled their wine glasses. Laurent swirled it around the glass, and smelt it, before taking a sip. He placed it back on the table. “You know the candles are a bit overkill. There is a thing called trying too hard.”

Damen smiled. “Do you know what candles were originally used for? They’re not meant to be romantic. They were placed on tables so those who were courting couldn’t lean over and steal kisses.”

“Hmmm,” Laurent said, staring at a candle. “I didn’t know you had any book smarts.”

Damen chuckled. “I’ll confess, I learned that just for you. I know you like smart men,” he said with a wink.

A small smirk flitted across Laurent’s face, before he leaned forward, running his hand over the flame, not enough to get burnt, but just enough to feel the heat. “I guess it is sort of romantic though. If a man braved the fire to kiss the woman, he must have really liked her. It would show his true intentions.”

“Yes, I guess it would. Though I didn’t think you would see it that way.”

“You’re right. I would see it as stupid. No one is worth getting burned over.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Some people are. If you asked, I would.”

“I shouldn’t have to.”

Damen met his eyes, and he thought about it. He really did. He had been dying to see Laurent these past couple of months. Now that he was here, he couldn’t stop thinking about kissing him, running his fingers over his cheek bones. Brushing his thumb over his lips. Instead, he broke eye contact, picked up his wine glass, and took a sip. 

The food came out, and it was amazing. Laurent definitely knew what dishes to choose. Damen finished all of his off, and drank most of the wine bottle. Laurent barely finishing his own glass. When the waitress came back over to ask about dessert, Laurent switched to French, and they talked for a moment.

“What did you say?” Damen asked as she walked away.

“I told her that the food was delicious, but we ate too much, and couldn’t possibly eat anymore. I also told her to give her compliments to the chef, and ordered us some coffee as dessert instead.”

Damen nodded. “It was hot.”

“What?”

“You. Speaking French.”

Laurent blushed. 

“Say something again.”

“Tu es ouf, et je deteste que je ne pourrais pas te effacer de ma tete.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, you don’t clean up so badly,” he said gesturing to Damen’s suit.

A grin broke out across Damen’s face. “I had Charls make it just for you. I asked him what you’d like, and he gave me this.”

“He does know his stuff.”

“I...you look beautiful tonight too, Laurent. Radiant even. I didn’t want to say anything earlier because I figured you would have walked out on me.”

“You would have been right. Je deteste que tu me connais si bien.” 

“How about that?”

“I told you to lean over those candles and kiss me, if you dare.”

Damen smiled and stood, his chair pushing away from the table. Laurent stood up also, leaning towards him a bit. Damen lowered his head and kissed him, lips brushing together lightly before pulling away, sitting back down.

“You didn’t get burnt. I’m not sure your candle theory pans out.”

Damen shrugged. “They’re not the tallest candles. We probably need candlesticks.”

The waitress brought their coffee. Laurent picked it up, holding it in his two hands, letting it cool.

“I thought you didn’t drink coffee?”

“I don’t, but only because nothing lives up to French coffee.”

“You were born here though, weren’t you?”

“Yes, but when I was younger, my father would send Auguste and I to France every summer. We stayed with our grandparents.”

“This place...is the food the same?”

“The food, the coffee, yes.”

Damen nodded. “I’ll remember that. I’m sure I can find some French beans to stock.”

Laurent looked at him, turning the cup in his hands. “Damen. What do you want from me?”

“Whatever you’re willing to give.”

“Why?”

“I like you.”

“Because I’m nice to look at?”  
“Yes, but not just that. You’re the most infuriating, frustrating person I’ve ever met. But you’re also strong, resilient, smart….and I think if I gave you my heart you’d treat it tenderly.” 

He looked at Damen, speechless for a moment. “You’re a fool if you think that, Damianos, but apparently I like fools.” 

Laurent brought his cup to his lips, and tossed it back. “Baise-moi Damianos. Take me home and fuck me.”

Damen looked at Laurent heat in his eyes, and gestured for the check. He paid, and they got in Damen’s car. He plugged Laurent’s address into the GPS, and they arrived at a small apartment, not far from Damen’s office. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and wouldn’t stand out from any other apartments, unlike Damen’s. He put the car in park, and turned to Laurent, who was staring out the window.

“Laurent. Are you sure? I can just go home.”

“Whatever I want to give, right?”

“Whatever you want.”

“And if I never give you my heart in return for yours?”

“I would never ask for all of it, but I like to think that I already have a tiny piece.”

Laurent chuckled, but not in a good way. It was a tiny, nervous laugh, a self-deprecating one.

“A part I didn’t even know I had left.” He put his hand on the door handle then nodded. “Yes Damen. I’m sure.” He tensed a bit before saying, “Show me what making love is.”

Damen turned off the car. 

He turned on the light in the apartment. “Shoes off.” he said, toeing his own off. He took off his jacket and hung it on a hook. Damen looked around. It was a decent sized place, but it didn’t really look like anyone lived there. The apartment was spotless, clean. The furniture looked like he just walked into a store, and bought the floor modeled living room. They were modern, boring pieces with no personality. No pictures were on the wall, no knick knacks on the shelves. He wondered how much time Laurent really spent here, or if he lived mostly in his office. 

“Bedroom is this way.” he said.

He lead Damen to the bedroom, and turned on the light, stepping inside. Most of the room was much like the living room. Seeming to be out of a catalogue, but the bed. The bed was gorgeous. It was a king-sized bed with a thick mattress. Pillows covered the headboard, and the comforter looked heavy and soft. 

“I don’t sleep so well. It helps.” Laurent said, seeing Damen looking at the bed. He walked over to the bed, and sat down on the edge of it, fists clenched.

Damen came to sit next to him, and Laurent’s shoulders tensed. 

“Don’t be nervous.” he said. “I would never hurt you, and if you told me to stop, I would. Anytime. Even if I was inside you, I would get off and give you space.”

“You say that now, but…”

Damen shook his head. “No. I swear it Laurent. Just give me the word, and I promise.” He cupped his cheek. “You deserve to have this. No pressure. No hidden motivations. Just us. Pleasure because you want it.” His thumb caressed Laurent’s cheekbone. “Can I kiss you?”

Laurent nuzzled his cheek into Damen’s palm. “Oui.”

Damen kissed him, and he kissed back slowly. The kiss stayed soft and sweet, giving Laurent time to get used to it, to make sure it was really what he wanted. Damen’s hand never left his cheek. Finally, Laurent pulled away. He licked his lips, and brought his hands to Damen’s jacket. He unbuttoned it, then loosened his tie, and lifted it off his neck. His fingers trailed down his cheek, down his throat, and to the first button on his shirt. Damen reached to place a hand on Laurent’s hip, but he shook his head.

“No. Not yet. Don’t touch me yet, just….”

Damen nodded. “You don’t have to explain Laurent.” 

He slowly started to undo Damen’s shirt, button by button, his eyes never leaving his fingers, too embarrassed to look up and see Damen’s face. He pushed the jacket and shirt off of Damen’s shoulders. Damen moved slowly to take them off of his arms, not wanting to startle Laurent. 

First, he traced Damen’s collarbone, who shivered at the light caress. Then he ran a palm from his collarbone, over his pec, his thumb stopping to twirl around his nipple. From his pec, across his stomach to his belly button, finally stopping to trace the ‘V’ near the waist of his pants. He could feel Damen’s eyes on him the whole time, and finally Laurent looked up to meet them. Keeping eye contact, he undid his own shirt, and let it fall off his shoulders, down his arms, and onto the floor.

“Embrasse-moi.”

Damen’s eyes fell to Laurent’s lips as he spoke, and then back up, his eyes questioning.

“Embrasse-moi.” he said, repeating it. “Kiss me.” But, instead of waiting for Damen to kiss him, he leaned in and did it himself.

He kissed him once, and then twice, before whispering against his lips. “You can touch me.”

Damen didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed Laurent’s hips, pulling him flush against him, Laurent’s arms coming to wrap around his neck, and he kneeled on the bed. This time the kiss was hungrier. Damen’s tongue sliding in, exploring every inch, making love to his mouth.

The next few moments were a blur in Laurent’s mind. They somehow went from kissing, to both of them losing their pants, to Laurent being pushed on his back. Laurent was looking up at him from on the bed, Damen leaning over him. They were both panting, but only Laurent’s skin had a flushed tone to it. He looked down between both of their bodies, their erections standing tall.

“What do you like?” Damen asked.

Laurent’s eyes slid back up Damen’s body. “What do you mean?”

“How do you want to be pleasured?”

“I...I don’t know. I was never….”

“What do you want to try? What do you think you’d like?”

Laurent brought a leg up, and wrapped it around Damen’s waist, pulling him a bit closer. “I want you to rut against me.”

Damen smiled, and leaned down. Their erections touched at the same time their lips did. As they kissed, Damen began to move his hips, slowly, not wanting to put too much pressure on Laurent at first. He kept it slow, until finally, Laurent’s leg tightened, and began to move his hips with Damen’s. He groaned into the kiss, nipping Laurent’s lip. 

Laurent let out a little mewl. “Enough. Prepare me.”

“My pleasure.” He nipped Laurent’s chin playfully, then kissed down his chest. He slipped his body down Laurent’s, and kept kissing as he moved. When he got to Laurent’s cock, he kissed the tip.

“Can you turn over for me sweetheart?”

Laurent turned over, being careful not to kick Damen. He slid his hand under Laurent’s hip, and lifted his ass into the air. “Keep it there.” he added, “please.” He spread Laurent’s cheeks with his hand, before burying his face between them, tongue sliding inside his hole. 

He ate him out slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, as if there was nowhere else he’d rather be, except for between Laurent’s legs. Laurent’s heart clenched, and he gasped, unsure at what that feeling was.

“E-enough. It’s….I feel….it’s too much.”

Damen pulled away right away.

 

“What do you need, agape mou?” 

“I need… I need to feel you in me.” 

“Where do you keep your lube?”

“Lube?” he laughed. “I don’t have lube. No need for it.”

“Laurent, we can’t. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’m wet enough. Believe me when I say I’ve had worse.”

Damen’s eyes flashed in anger, before quickly returning to normal, not wanting Laurent to see.

“Alright. I want you on your back though. If you’re comfortable with that?”

Laurent hesitated, but then turned over. He spread his legs for Damen, head turned away from him, blushing.

“Teleios.” He moved between Laurent’s legs and placed a hand under his hip. He lifted his lips slowly. Holding Laurent in that position with one hand, he gripped his cock in the other. He ran the tip of his cock, along Laurent’s crack, brushing up and down.

“Damen! I can’t…..please.” he begged.

Damen lined up against his hole and pushed in, just the tip. Laurent’s lips parted in a gasp. Slowly, he pulled out, then pushed back in again. He did this a couple of times, beginning to stretch Laurent out. Finally, he pushed a bit more in. He began to rock his hips, getting deeper and deeper each time, until he was fully sheathed. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Laurent whispered breathlessly. “Fuck me.”

“Make love.”

He sighed. “Make love to me Damianos.”

He began to move. Damen knew he wasn’t going to last long, but he knew Laurent wasn’t going to either. They were both feeling too much, lost in the moment. He kept the pace slow at first, rocking his hips into him gently, Laurent pushing back lightly. 

Soon Laurent became impatient, his fingers squeezing the sheets. “Harder, Damen. I want to feel you when I awake tomorrow.” 

He arched his back off the bed, hips in the air, and began to gyrate into Damen, pushing against him. Damen held his hips up with both hands, and began to pound into him, Laurent letting out quiet mewls and groans. He watched him squirm on the bed, loving the way the flush spread from his cheeks, to his neck, and down his chest, to the redness of his cock. It was the most gorgeous and erotic sight he had even seen. He tilted his hips and Laurent let out a cry. Damen knew he hit that spot inside him, and he gave quick short thrusts, hitting it over and over again. 

Laurent’s moans became faster, and started to merge together, the motion of his hips becoming more erratic. When he squeezed Damen’s cock, cumming, Damen was cumming alongside him. Laurent’s hips dropped to the bed, and Damen let go of them. He saw red marks from his fingers, knowing they would still be there tomorrow, and for a couple of days after. 

Laurent quietly got up from the bed, and went to the bathroom. He came out with a towel. He cleaned himself off, and then Damen before climbing back into the bed. 

“Come here.” he said.

Damen crawled up to lay next to him.

“So, that’s what it feels like.”

“No. That was more amazing then what it normally feels like.”

Laurent nodded then turned onto his side. “You can hold me.”

Damen sidled up behind him, and wrapped an arm around Laurent’s waist, pulling him close. They were both silent for a few minutes.  
“I was thinking. About this treaty,” Damen whispered.

“Hmmm? Now?”

“What about we do a merger? No treaty necessary. No more borders.”

“What about Kastor? How would he feel about that?”

“I think he would be fine with it. After all, our territories together cover a lot of area. We need eyes in more than one place at once.”

“Let’s discuss it in the morning, when I’m more clear headed. But….I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.”

“And if I asked you to marry me? What would you say?”

“I would say to not push your luck.”

Damen chuckled. “Alright. I’ll ask another time then.”

“Good. Now Damen, shut up, and go to sleep.” he said, holding back a yawn.

“Yes, sweetheart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Tu es ouf, et je deteste que je ne pourrais pas te effacer de ma tete: You’re an idiot, and I hate that I couldn’t erase you from my mind these past few months
> 
> -Je deteste que tu me connais si bien: I also hate that you know me so well
> 
> -Baise-moi: fuck me
> 
> -Oui: yes
> 
> -agape mou: my love
> 
> -Teleios: perfect
> 
>  
> 
> Also (A little extra scene I had of Nicaise and Laurent:
> 
> Damen: (Walks back into his suite the next morning)  
> Nicaise: (Eating ice cream on the couch from the container) Oh, I thought he had finally killed you. Guess you’re just doing the walk of shame instead.  
> Damen: (Stammers) Am not!  
> Laurent: (Comes in behind him) Actually, he is.  
> Nicaise: Laurent! (Runs over to give him a hug, spoon still in mouth)  
> Laurent: (Looks him over. He’s in ripped jeans, and a too large t-shirt. His hair is a mess, and he has a cut above his eyebrow from where he fell skateboarding). You look like a delinquent, and you’ll probably have a nice scar.  
> Nicaise: I know! Isn’t it great!  
> Laurent: I think we have two very different definitions of the word, but yes, it’s great.


	10. Second Art by SilverBladeDraco

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second beautiful art piece. I really couldn't have asked for a better artist. I love both pieces so damn much. Go like their tumblr, or twitter to see more of their art (under the same name SilverBladeDraco)


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